The Art of the Deal
by Case13
Summary: No one starts on top of the world. Bereft of his dream, or even a chance for it, Uzumaki Naruto starts his own path to the top of the world.
1. Chapter 1

Now I'd like people to keep something in mind. This NOT, despite some things appearing otherwise at the beginning a 'powerless Naruto' fic. Not by a longshot. In any way. Also, people looking for Hinata pairing... Run. And never read any Naruto fic I write ever again. I don't like Hinata. I don't like the archetype of 'shy girl' in anime in general. But Hinata? Hinata is a living doormat. A stalking living doormat. Good person? Gentle, kind and all... Maybe. But a living doormat. And I don't care for that type of character in the slightest. I won't bash her, or anything like that, but she won't be be paired with Naruto either. In this, or in any of my fics. Sasuke and Sakura I also don't care much for. Just a warning.Also if you expect a goofy, likeable idiot Naruto? You can stop now. Will of fire and other such uselss, naive trash gets left behind as Naruto confronts the harshness of the world head on right from the start.

The Art of the Deal

Chapter 1

"No one starts on top of the world."

ooo

"...burnout, hence the dominant pathways of the..."

Sarutobi sighed, closing his eyes.

He had nothing against Hyuuga Kaoru as a person. She was a truly fantastic medic and a good nin. Not as good as Tsunade, her peer from the academy days, but very good. She was also most detail obsessed, nitpicking, bland and almost painfully accurate person he had ever met.

"Kaoru-san... As I am no medic nin, obviously... To the point, if you would?"

Kaoru blinked.

"As you wish, Hokage-dono." Her utterly bland, deadpan voice remained the same, and even all the years of interacting with her Sarutobi had no idea if she was offended or not.

'Probably not. This IS Kaoru, after all. The woman who instructed her would-be assassin on proper kunai technique with utter calm despite being stabbed in the shoulder.'

"The point, as you put it, is that the boy will never use chakra again." She stated bluntly.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow sceptically, looking at the still faintly glowing body of the blond child lying on the cot.

"Well he seems to be using it just fine to me."

"Vestiges of the bijuu's chakra, Sarutobi-sama." Kaoru said calmly. "Once they fade, he will undergo a massive burnout from the power he had expelled. The energy still flows and coats his coils, keeping them together. Once it is gone, however-"

Sarutobi's eyes widened.

"Will he die?" He asked frantically.

"No." The Hyuuga medic shook her head. "But his chakra coils will lose roughly 97 of their channelling capability. Enough to live. Barely. Not enough to channell it in any meaningful way. I'd advise balanced diet rich in proteins and herbal cocktails. His body will be very weak after he wakes."

Sarutobi closed his eyes.

"And he had just entered the academy, too..." He sighed, before blinking. "97... But with since the bijuu IS so powerful... Three percent would still be more than enough if he can be trained in-"

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect." The Hyuuga said calmly. "But you are missing a point. It is not a question of chakra. It is the question of coils. When the boy was attacked, the stab must have introduced the incredible stress and panic and the boy used bijuu's chakra on a reflex. The chakra is highly toxic. It wreaked unimaginable damage to his still growing chakra system. And even if it wasn't, it was simply too much by far. It is like pumping ten liters of water into one liter container under extremely high pressure. He is lucky to be alive. But he won't be using chakra ever again. Neither his, and most assuredly, not his prisoner's. His body is simply incapable of it now. As I said, he has barely enough of chakra coils left to live."

Sarutobi nodded slowly.

"What of the regenerative powers the bijuu had shown? He had healed the stab, after all. Is there a possibility his chakra coils might be healed in time?" He asked hopefully.

"No." The Hyuuga healer said bluntly. "The regeneration had been done via the demonic chakra. Without the way to pump it into the body and distribute it, what you propose is impossible. And there is no known way to regenerate chakra coils with that level of damage. No, Hokage-sama. The boy will never be capable of using chakra again until the day he dies."

Sarutobi just looked at the blond sadly.

"I see." He said after a while. "Thank you, Kaoru-san. You may leave."

The woman bowed gracefully and left without looking back.

Sarutobi looked at Naruto's prone body for a long moment before taking a sheet of paper.

"I'm sorry, my boy." He whispered sadly. "More than you will ever know."

With a heavy heart, he wrote down a few lines of text, before marking it with his official seal.

He stared at it for a long while.

Few simple words. Just few lines that marked the death of a dream.

"DAMN THOSE SHORT SIGHTED BIGOTS!" The old man roared, sweeping the contents of his desk angrily.

The various documents swirled in the air, several scrolls impacted the wall with enough force for their frames to crack. One of them even struck the Yondaime's portrait, bringing it to the ground and breaking the glass that covered it.

Sarutobi looked at it, his breath ragged.

"And what are you smiling at, you goddamn brat?!" He hissed. "Happy now?! Well?! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!"

The portrait kept smiling, and Sarutobi slid deeply into his chair, rubbing his temples.

"Fools... And I even more of one..." He whispered, feeling every day of his life weighting on his back like never before.

He sat there for a long while, his eyes looking forward, but seeing nothing, before he finally shook off his stupor.

"You might have lost your dream boy... But I won't let you lose anything else." He said, looking at Naruto with determined eyes.

'Now, how went that blasted procedure...?'

ooo

"...out of here, you fuckin' brat! OUT!"

Naruto didn't even bother to scream or curse the shopkeeper He just walked out, not bothering to look back.

One might think that people would start treating the blond differently, now that there was no risk of Kyuubi ever breaking out.

One would be wrong.

Naruto was a symbol. A living reminder of the lives lost, of the lives ruined. And, above all, he was a symbol of helplessness

Konoha citizens were a proud lot. Their village was 'the strongest'. They lived well. Protected by their shinobi, they had very little to fear. Even during the Great Shinobi Wars directs attacks on Konoha were rare. And the Leaf bred strong ninja, many of them like the mighty Uchiha or powerful Hyuuga, blessed with powerful blood limits that could lay scores of enemies low.

So Konoha citizens could be proud of themselves.

Then the Kyuubi came. Unstoppable, invincible and invulnerable engine of destruction that wreaked havoc, killed, ripped apart and laughed at the strongest jutsu.

Konoha had never forgotten. Nor had it forgiven. Nor would it ever.

And Naruto was the living reminder.

Sarutobi didn't let the blonde's state become public knowledge. At least he tried. But people knew. After all, how could anybody resist sharing such good news!

Once the news started spreading, there was no stopping it.

And Naruto's already shitty deal with life got even worse.

Not that he cared, really. He stopped caring months before.

At first it was just like a bad dream. He ignored it. He TRIED to ignore it. After all, they always told him he would never be the Hokage or amount to anything worthwhile, so he got good at ignoring.

But he knew.

Deep inside, deep under that cocky facade, he knew.

Because that strange feeling of warmth that was always there, that raw spike of... something - Something that he knew now was chakra - was gone.

He couldn't feel it coursing thhrough his body anymore.

And his henge, one he trained so diligently, one he turned into his Oiroke, his very own original technique...

Gone. Dead. As if it never existed.

Seals might as well be some funky hand gestures now.

And Iruka-sensei bared him from even coming near the academy after he tried to go to the classes regardless.

He was barely seven years old and he had lost everything that mattered.

The old man had explained it to him. About the Kyuubi. About hate. Fear. Power. The Yondaime Hokage...

Naruto looked at the monument.

His hero. Or rather his former hero.

'I hate you.' He thought out of habit.

But there was no real heat in that anymore. What was the point? The man was dead, anyway.

And Naruto couldn't even buy himself a new shirt.

'Great going, hero.' He scowled. 'Thanks. Really.'

He sighed.

There was one place he could always fall back on. The owner was a slime of a man and overcharged him several times over, but he'd sell him the shirt. Probably a low quality one, but a shirt none the less.

ooo

"WHAT?! Are you kidding me?!" Naruto screeched. "I don't believe you! And this isn't even my size!"

"Well if you're so picky go somewhere else." The owner shrugged. "I'm not making you buy it."

Naruto scowled.

'Why that...!'

"I can buy a whole outfit for that! And look at it... it's girly PINK!"

"Shut up, brat!" The man hissed. "You're bothering the customers!" He threw a quick glance around his shop, sighing with relief as he noticed only a blond man, obviously out of town, going though his collection of cloaks.

"But...but it's PINK! It's girly! And it doesn't fit! How am I supposed to..."

"Not my problem." The merchant said simply. "You wanted a shirt, I showed you the shirt. Don't like it? Don't buy it. That simple, brat."

"But I need a shirt!" The blond protested. "And I know you have others! Come on, I really need a shirt!"

"No. I only have this. Nothing else." He smirked. "You can always go somewhere else."

The blond glare and opened his mouth, but the man glared at him.

"One more damn screech, you fuckin' brat and I'll never let you buy anything here again! Got me? Now buy it or get lost, fox."

Naruto glared, grumbled and scowled. But paid anyway.

The man didn't even bother with packing the shirt, just throwing it to the boy.

"Now scram before some real customers see you."

ooo

Naruto scowled, looking at the shirt in his hands.

'Too wide, too big... and pink.' He hung his head. 'If anybody sees me in this... Goddammit! I'll look like some girl!'

He sighed mournfully.

'Maybe it'll wash out...?' He thought hopefully.

"...there is nothing more to say. You can take it or leave it." Asao's voice, screechy as always, interrupted Naruto's funk.

Naruto raised his head and looked at the source. Sure enough, there was the old weapon merchant, Asao. Rail thin, wrinkled and looking as if he just ate a sour lemon. In front of him stood a sandy blond young man.

'Hey... This guy is kinda familiar.' Naruto frowned 'RIGHT! This is the guy form the store! What is he doing?

"Come now, Asao-dono." The other voice was calm, smooth and very polite. "I'm sure that we can work something out. I know that times are hard, as I am something of a merchant myself, so I wouldn't dream of robbing you of your hard earned profits. But I'm not as successful as you are. Maybe we can come to some kind of agreement here?"

Naruto almost snorted.

Asao was known for his utter unwillingness to lower prices to anyone, unless they were nobility. That, and the fact that that he wasn't most pleasant of people meant he wasn't particularly liked. However, his shop was the only place one could buy high quality tags different than Katon explosive tags for a reasonable price meant he always had plenty of customers around.

Asao knew this, so he didn't bother with haggling.

And he didn't hesitate to inform the stranger of that.

"I don't haggle. You either take what I have at my price, or you don't take it at all." The old man scowled at the stranger.

"I'm not talking about haggling, Asao-dono. I know there is no sense of haggling with merchant as experienced as yourself." The stranger smiled placatingly. "I was thinking more along the lines of a... mutually beneficial deal. One that would allow us both to profit. You see..."

ooo

Naruto just stood, dumbfounded, watching as old Asao and the young stranger bowed to each other, the old man returning to his shop and the blond walking away, whistling a jaunty tune happily, a pack of tags in hand.

'I don't believe it...' Naruto thought dazedly. 'He... He haggled. With Asao. With old 'Tight Ass' Asao... And he even got a discount... Unreal...'

Dazedly, Naruto looked at his shirt.

Then at the stranger.

He twisted the shirt in his hands thoughtfully, as a glint entered his eye.

ooo

Shin looked at the young boy in tattered orange jumpsuit curiously.

"So let me get this straight." He said slowly. "You saw me deal with that merchant. And now want me to teach you how to... haggle?"

The blond kid nodded.

Shin cocked an eyebrow.

"And just why should I teach you?" He asked after a moment of silence. "I don't know you, my young friend. I have no reason to know you, much less teach you. So why should I?

The blond just looked at him, obviously at loss, before pulling out a frog like contraption that turned out to be a wallet.

Naruto looked at his precious wallet for a few seconds, and almost cringed as he extended it to the stranger.

"I'll... I'll pay you. This is everything I have, so... Please teach me!" He implored the blond man, looking at him with desperation in his eyes.

Shin looked a the blond for a long while. Finally, he cocked his head to the side.

"You are doing it wrong." He said finally. "Never let people know how much you want something. Never." He smiled. "Well, it seems you DO need some lessons."

He took the frog wallet and cocked an eyebrow, weighting it in hand, before opening it.

'Quite a sum for a child...' He thought with surprise. 'Either he gets very good pocket money, which I doubt judging by his looks. Probably an orphan. Disliked, too, judging by the scene in the shop. So he must rely on himself Yet he managed to save money... Hmm. Interesting.'

"So, my young friend, what do they call you?" He looked at the child questioningly

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." The boy said hopefully. "So you'll teach me?"

"Well, you paid me and I accepted the payment, didn't I?" The man smiled. Well then, Uzumaki Naruto, my name is Shin and I shall be your teacher in the Art of the Deal. Listen closely, pay attention and you just might learn something."

"YES!" The boy screamed. 'I'm gonna show them! I'm gonna show those morons! I'll buy EVERYTHING I want and I'm gonna get the discount, too!'

"First off, don't scream." Shin chided him. "Rising your voice during conversation often sparks hostility or dislike. Sometimes both."

The blond cocked his head.

"What's hostility?"

Shin sighed.

"It's when people don't like you and overprice stuff. Like that merchant in the clothing store." He explained.

"Ah." Naruto nodded. "Okay."

'Well, at least he is attentive. And eager.' Shin thought.

"Now, you must always keep in mind few major rules. Be polite. Whatever you think about people you are dealing with, keep it to yourself. Don't overdo it, be natural, but polite. Smile. It costs you nothing, but can earn you much."

"Like with ol' Asao!" Naruto grinned. "He's an asshole, but you were all polite and stuff!"

"Yes." Shin nodded. "But don't interrupt. It's not very polite."

Naruto shut up.

"Always do your best to keep your word and honor the deal. Reputation is the best coin a merchant has. If you have none, no one will deal with you. If you have it, it can often buy more than money alone." Shin raised his finger pointedly. "On the same token, you must both respect yourself and value your services. If you have no respect for yourself, or value your own skills poorly, don't expect others to value you highly."

Wide eyed, Naruto nodded, clearly spellbound.

"Also always, and I mean ALWAYS, strive to be the best. Standing still is taking two steps backwards. The world is turning and changing. You must adapt and change with it."

And so, the lesson continued.

ooo

Shin walked through the forests, Konoha left long behind him.

He calmly whistled a jaunty tune, not missing a step as two figures, one male, one female, both in Shinobi attire though without hitai-ate denoting the village of origin, swept down from the trees and knelt in front of him.

"Yukishiro-sama." The woman said, bowing her head. "I hope your excursion went well?"

"Oh DO stand up, Maya." He sighed. "You too, Kojiro. Honestly. Bodyguards or not, you are my friends. And yes, to your question." He cocked his head with a smile, thinking of certain blond urchin. "Why, it went even better than I could have imagined."

Maya, her delicate face nearly expressionless, raised an eyebrow.

"Why, I think I just made a very interesting deal." Shin said cheerfully "A very interesting deal, indeed."

Yukishiro Shin whistled a jaunty tune, followed by his two faithful, it tad bewildered bodyguards.

ooo

"Remember, my young friend: always know who to deal with first. Also, know when. Those are often as important as the deal itself.

ooo

Naruto might not be able to use chakra anymore, but he wasn't blind, deaf or stupid.

He couldn't deal with people in Konoha?

Fine.

He watched, he looked, he observed until his eyes hurt.

The woman was young. Well, she was younger than Hokage-jiji. But then everyone was younger than Hokage-jiji, so it didn't say much.

She was cool. Loud. And he didn't like her coat. Too white for him. No happy color in sight.

But as she walked into t he shop, there was no mistaking it. It wasn't as raw, as potent or as blatant... But it was there.

Naruto dealt with cold eyes all his life. He was an expert, really.

So finding that cold, if muted look when she walked in or through some shops was easy.

And there was also something else. Something he saw in mothers that saw their children playing with him long ago, right before they snatched them away.

Fear. Cautious fear. Fear of the purple haired lady in the coat.

Naruto grinned.

So they didn't want to deal with him?

Fine.

Then he'll find someone who will.

ooo

"Excuse me, Anko-san?"

Anko turned to the voice, frowning as she found a young boy in a fatigued orange jumpsuit and a large smile on his face.

'Why is he so... Ah. Right. The fox brat.'

"If you can't see, I'm kind eatin' here. So buzz off, brat." She waved him away.

"Sorry, sorry!" The blond grinned. "But I won't take much of your time, Anko-san! And hey, I'll pay for your dango as an apology!" He put enough coins for two trays of dango on the table and slid them to the cook. The man glared at him, but then looked at Anko, swallowed nervously at her gleeful gaze and took the money.

Anko slowed her eating a little to look at the blond child, before cocking her head and grinning.

"Heh heh... Forward little brat, ain't ya?" She teased a chuckle. "You've got guts, brat. All right. As long as there's dango, I'll listen to ya.." She smirked. "Unless I get bored, of course. Then I'll have to find something... Fun to do."

Naruto almost cringed. Her grin really creeped him out.

That was one SERIOUSLY scary lady.

For a moment he thought about looking for someone else, but he had already paid for her dango. He refused to waste the cash.

Besides, after so many days of observing people, she was the best option he had found.

Naruto smiled.

"Anko-san, can I ask you something...?"

ooo

Even long after many years went by, Anko never quite understood why had she listened to the blond urchin in a somewhat ragged orange jumpsuit.

Sure, there was dango, but...

It might have been pity. Maybe. The kid was a worse pariah than herself on any given day.

Sure, being an apprentice to the madman and traitor was bad. Sure, they called her slut. Sure, all kind of rumors how the snake sannin 'trained' her circulated around. 'Orochimaru's little fucktoy' was just one of many names she had heard in her youth. Some of them even stuck.

Ironic was the fact that Orochimaru, for all the time she had known him, was nearly asexual. He wasn't gay, like some suggested. He didn't, despite some claiming otherwise, have a taste for young boys.

With Orochimaru, it was all about power. It was his drug, his reason for existence, his God, his alpha and omega.

But it wasn't always this way. One day, every year, Orochimaru took care to place a small, modest bouquet made of various wildflowers on a certain grave. The name was impossible to read, cut and ripped from the grave's surface as if somebody slashed it with kunai in a fit of rage. Or mad grief.

This was also one day in the year that Orochimaru drank himself into stupor, something he usually thought beneath him.

But on that day, he did.

She never had the courage to ask, but from the few times Jiraya took him home to sleep off the alcohol she knew it was a woman. Jiraya always got a sad, faraway look in his eyes.

Orochimaru never spoke of her. Not once.

But each year, he diligently gathered the flowers, put them in a simple bouquet and left them on the nameless grave.

As selfish as it seemed, she liked it about him, back when he was her teacher.

It proved that he wasn't some unstoppable genius standing high on the pedestal, coated in his legend of invincibility, but a man. Man with his failings.

When he... left... She hated that. Hated it. Because he wasn't some kind of irredeemable monster.

She hated him for what he had done to her, for broken dreams, for betrayal, for his mad experiments when he could have been so much MORE. When SHE could have been the pupil of the sannin, of the great Orochimaru. Mitarashi Anko.

Genius shinobi.

Respected.

Maybe even liked, who knew?

But somehow, over the chaos of Orochimaru's betrayal, people forgot about little Anko that graduated at ten with top marks. About little Anko that was chuunin before others even dreamed of genin. Little Anko that was loyal to her friends to a fault, loyal to her home beyond reproach. Little Anko that was labeled a slut, accomplice of Konoha's greatest and most deranged traitor until Uchiha Itachi. Mitarashi Anko who was jounin in all but name but would never get the rank. Mitarashi Anko that couldn't be trusted with anything of real importance.

Snake, you see. Snake's slut. Potential traitor. Mad one.

She would kill him, no mater the cost, yes. She hated him for that.

But making him... human.

Making him not some utterly mad monster beyond reason, but human, however deranged one... For that, she hated him the most.

But hey, she endured. Brash, strong, powerful. Who cared about rank? She was Mitarashi-fucking-Anko. Chuunin that had an A-class bingo book rating. Some jounin, supposedly all elite and shit, couldn't manage that. So the ANBU didn't want her? Fuck them. Their loss.

Snake slut? Unstable emotionally? Unstable because of the Cursed Seal? Fuck it. Fuck it and the horse it rode in. She was Mitarashi Anko. And she didn't give a FUCK.

On the day she realized that, she bought her undermesh. She put it on in the shop, uncaring of stares. Then she bought her coat.

And as she looked in the mirror, the slightly deranged giggle welling in her throat as the eyes of the saleslady she bullied to get a better price reflected in it. Part distaste, part indignation and lot's of fear...

She finally felt like herself.

And since she got promoted to Tokubetsu Jounin, she was obviously doing something right.

So yeah, her life wasn't exactly bed of roses. But the kid had it far worse.

As if being hated for the Kyuubi wasn't enough, he got his chakra system so fucked up he got thrown out of academy not even completing his first year.

Which was something of a record, really.

But the brat didn't break. Oh no. He was Naruto. Uzumaki-fucking-stubborn-Naruto.

Maybe that was why? Pity, respect? Mix of both? Maybe because she saw herself within the brat.

Maybe.

But he paid her with dango. Free dango... Well, almost free. But who complained? Not her.

Buy this, buy that... Like a D-class mission. Boring, boring, boring. But fast. And... DANGO!

Feeding her addiction was always nice.

And sometime during that, she got to know the kid. The kid, not the man. Because what the kid was, and what he showed... Heh.

She found that pretty quickly. After all, it takes one cripple to understand another, right?

And it's not like she had many people to hang out with. Not that she'd ever admit to 'hanging out' with the kid. No, when Kurenai asked...

"Well you know, I like to annoy him. He goes ballistic. And I can eat free dango!"

And that was that.

Until blondie dropped the exploding note on her. Or whole box of them.

ooo

C-class? You kiddin', right? More money than you have ever seen, brat. Or will ever see.

Huh?

Hohoho... Cocky. Man, you're one amusing brat.

Sure, sure. Why not. You get the money, I got the time. Sure. Yeah, I promise.

Good morning, good morning. Yeah, whatever.

Mission?

Sure.

C-class, nah I...

Huh?

Well fuck me sideways.

Sure I'll take it . No, I ain't feeling bad. No I ain't sick, Hokage-sama. Nope. Fine. Nope. So yeah. I take it. Yes, yes, yes. Who, the brat? Don't bother me none.

Yes, old man, I'll look after him. Yes, I won't swear in front of him.

Much.

Yeah, yeah. He's the client, yadda yadda and shit. Great. Fine.

YES I am fucking sure!

Sorry.

So... The mission?

And then they broke into that kitchen.

ooo

"What?" Anko looked at the kid incredulously "What the hell for? You want to poison him or something?"

"Poison him?" The blond blinked. "No. I want to cook him a great meal."

Anko looked at him for a long moment.

"You sure you haven't hit your head one time too many, brat?" She said, finally breaking the silence. "Why the hell would you have me breaking into a house belonging to some fat merchant just to cook a meal for him?"

Naruto grinned.

"Anko-san..."

"Anko." She interrupted him with a scowl.

"Anko, then." He agreed. "What is the main food staple of the Wind country?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Anko snorted. "Rice, of course. Like everywhere else."

"Mhm." Naruto nodded non comittialy. "Now, where does the Wind country, who is near tropical at best, gets it's rice?"

Anko shrugged.

"Well, they can't grow it exactly. Import, I guess."

"Very good." Naruto nodded sagely. "Now, aside from rice, what do they eat?"

Anko blinked.

"Well... meat? Vegetables? Stuff like that?" She said unsurely. She had been to Wind country, true, but mainly in passing. She had never really paid any attention to the food there.

"Oh sure they do. Meat, however, is scarcer than in the Fire country. Vegetables? A near-luxury, save for those that grow in those conditions That's why..." Naruto threw her something grayish brown, smaller than her fist. She caught it deftly, rising an eyebrow curiously. It was obvious some kind of a plant, but..." We are going to give them this."

"...What the hell is it?" She muttered curiously.

Naruto's grin got wider, if that was even possible.

"That, my dear Anko, is the excellent source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and other such funny names, capable of being stored for up to several months without spoiling. They are called potatoes. And baked, fried or boiled... They taste simply delicious."

Anko frowned.

"If you say so." She said dubiously.

"I not only say so, I can prove it once we break camp." He smiled. "I found about those little buggers in Konoha's library after I came up across them when I wandered countryside near Konoha. Some old lady made them, they were a gift from her son, who is a farmer up north."

Naruto chuckled.

"She had no idea what they were and she made them wrong, without peeling them first. But the insides still tasted well. So I got around to thinking, snooped around, and viola Potatoes."

The blond grinned.

"Now, imagine, Anko. Just imagine. The rice, the staple food, is rather expensive in Wind country. Vegetables even more so. And contrary to rice, that can be stored for a long time, they spoil extremely fast. Now this little bugger," He pointed at the potato in her hand. "can be stored without problems and tastes fresh for months, if kept properly. Now imagine the value of that kind of vegetable to the, say, Shinobi Village of the Sand."

Anko's eyes widened.

"See?" Naruto said, clearly pleased with himself. "And one good thing is, that across shinobi nations? This nice little plant is all but unknown. Since rice is so popular, the only farmers that cultivate it are here, in the Fire Country. And even then it is mostly for themselves. However, they DO have some nice reserves. And they can be persuaded. IF the right middle man is found." He smiled slyly. "Of course, there is a question of buyers. We can't exactly sell this to the Village of the Sand. Not by ourselves. So we need a local merchant to make things easier for us. Somebody with reputation, an honest man. Wealthy, but not rich. Problem is, that kind of people are... well, cautious. And conservative. So to introduce my idea to him, we need some... creative methods."

Anko grinned slowly.

"Like breaking into his kitchen and feeding him some potato wonders?" The woman raised an eyebrow.

"See? See?" Naruto nodded sagely. "I knew I found myself a good partner Great minds think alike!"

Mitarashi Anko threw her head back and laughed.

They broke to the residence a week later.

poo

Saito Nagi, that was all Naruto. It was his idea.

People wouldn't deal with the kid, he knew. He understood that. Adults, responsibility, image. Shin explained it to him.

One of the reasons Anko was oh so important for his whole caper to work.

After all, genjutsu wouldn't cast itself.

Uzumaki Naruto, little bit over eight years old? Nobody would take him seriously.

Saito Nagi? The young, but still adult, merchant?

Well, a little young but... Hey... If he's so young, he's inexperienced!

Cash cow!

...Suckers.

Heh Heh.

So, Saito Nagi. Little bit short, young, tad nervous. Sandy blond. That he got from Shin. Greenhorn.

Yes. That was all Naruto, down to the slight, youthful stubble during the first meeting.

He helped Anko with Setsuna. Well, with Setsuna's looks, anyway. Darker skin, Amber eyes, brighter hair...

But crazy sex-kitten-with-a-blade... Now that, was all Anko.

Anko was the brash, in-your-face fighter type.

Setsuna was well dressed, beautiful femme fatale. And crazy. Not at the first glance, but the purple haired tokubetsu jounin could pull that 'faintly glimmering violence and madness' thing in her eyes well. Scarily overprotective, too.

Anko found Setsuna too amusing for words.

Jin was also Anko's idea.

Not totally, not exactly, but he was her creation in the end.

It was always good to have the 'boss' that one worked for.

Relentless, unreasonable, powerful man. Nobody knows what, who, when...

But Jin IS. Jin CAN. Jin WILL.

And poor Saito Nagi, burdened with troublesome assistant/bodyguard/sex kitten - take your pick, must run around the world as an errand boy.

Please, sir. Do have pity on a poor downtrodden young merchant.

Anko was damn proud of her creation.

And it took all the self control she had not to burst out laughing after hearing a serious talk between Asuma, Gai, Kakashi and Kurenai few years later about Jin-san and his long reach.

Yeah, it all started with that kitchen.

Anko was proud of herself.

Naruto even more so.

They kept eating potatoes every year on the anniversary of that day.

The day when the Ginsen was born.

And the name was Anko's.

Naruto, as she quickly found out, was utterly useless when it came to naming anything.

ooo


	2. Chapter 2

The same warnings as before apply. Remember. Not powerless.

ooo

The Art of the Deal

Chapter 2

"Forceful negotiation"

ooo

Anko stared dumbly at the thin sheet of paper in her hand.

Or rather what was written on the paper.

"And that's... just from... potatoes?" She said, wide eyed.

Naruto nodded.

"And that's just the major payoff for the deal. When the trade picks up speed, we'll be getting more. Not as much, but constantly." He smirked.

"And... part of it... is mine?" She said incredulously This was... hell, this was like getting paid for an S class mission with a hazard bonus. Several times over.

Naruto nodded again.

"Not part of it. Half of it. You're my partner, after all."

"Oh." She said faintly "So... half of the cash on that paper...?"

"Half?" Naruto blinked. "Anko. What is on this paper IS your half."

"...Holy fuck." Anko sat down slowly. She looked at the paper. She looked at the blond kid. She looked at the paper.

She snorted.

Then she snickered.

Then she threw her head back and...

"FUCK! All those pretty zero's.. MINE!"

...cackled.

She grabbed Naruto, mad glint in her eye.

"Kid... We're fucking RICH!"

"Not rich. Merely... wealthy." He said trying not to cringe from Anko's mad cackle. "But I'm working on it. Now you can take your rightful share and go or..."

Anko's mad laughter died as if cut with a knife.

She looked at him carefully

She leaned to look at his eyes.

Aaaaand... there it was.

That glint. That carefully hidden flash she had seen when he talked about potatoes over a moth before.

"Don't tell me... more of your potato ideas?" She smirked.

"Kind of." He grinned. "Tell me, Anko. What do you think of... soy?"

"What, you're trying to set up tofu trade or something?" She asked speculatively. "Or soy sauce?"

"Sauce, no. Tofu... Hmm. Pretty close." He looked at her. "We gave the Wind country the veggies... Now, we're going to give them cheap meat. Or rather something damn close. Light, cheap and capable of being stored for a long periods of time."

He took out a sheet of paper that looked to be ripped from some old book.

"Read and tell me what you think."

Anko grabbed the paper, reading hastily, only to stop abruptly.

She looked at Naruto incredulously

"Read on, read on. All true, I guarantee it."

She went back, this time reading slowly and attentively.

"You're shitting me." She said flatly. "And all that from soy?"

"According to that piece of paper? Yes."

"Where did you get that, anyway? Looks fuckin' old, whatever that is." She muttered, squinting to red from the aged, yellow and nearly crumbling paper.

"Konoha's public civilian library is DAMN old. Older than the village, I'd guess. There are sections that nobody has set foot in for a long time. After they threw me from the academy I needed something to do or I'd have gone stir crazy. A... well, let's call him a friend, told me reading wasn't bad and said that there is no such thing as useless knowledge. So I went to the library, since people didn't exactly like selling books to me." He rolled his eyes. "Of course, they didn't like me borrowing books either. I got chased out form the library a few times, then I got 'smart' and tried to break into the cellar to get in. Instead I got to the old storage, where they put some old junk nobody was interested in anymore." He grinned. "That's where I got info about potatoes from. There were several old cookbooks there. Damn ancient, really. Most of the stuff was weird, I never heard about it before. But soy... Heh."

"Damn..." Anko said slowly. "If that thing is accurate... Shit. Wind would be all over it. This would be.. fuck. Not only the Wind country. Even ninja villages would be all over it. Rations for shinobi in the field alone would make a killing!" She frowned thoughtfully "But that's more than trade. You'd need a lot of cash to set up..."

Naruto tapped the paper on their potato deal, whistling innocently.

Anko's eyes widened.

"... you damn fucking underhanded sneaky BRAT!" The jounin said, looking at the blond kid...

'Kid? No. He's right. Partner.'

...blond partner with newfound respect.

"So, in or out?" Naruto asked

Anko just smirked.

'My dear lovely zero's.. Mommy is going to give you plenty of little siblings very soon now.' She thought, cackling gleefully

The blond smiled pleasantly.

"I knew you'd see it my way."

ooo

"Always give the people the image. They like that. Selling the image is the first thing to do before you can sell anything else. They must buy it. They must like it. They must crave it. Dealing with respectable people makes them feel respectable. And dealing with powerful makes them feel powerful. Facade is a must. And the best facade is your own environment. Your own place, your home ground, so to speak."

ooo

"Okay, I understand that we need an office but..." She looked around the small, sleepy and a little bit ran down town dubiously, barely resisting the urge to sweep the fake hair away from her face. 'Setsuna' was a little bit of genjutsu, large part clothes, make up and a few other tricks. Best disguises weren't done by a henge.

It was the first time in her life she actually put the kunoichi seduction classes to any real use, something she never thought she'd do.

But playing the 'femme fatale' role had been surprisingly amusing.

Refreshing, in a way.

"Why here? I mean, this is well... a hole. Nothing happens here."

"Exactly." Naruto, in his 'Saito Nagi' guise nodded cheerfully "Nothing happens here. Yet. This is a small city. Little bit on the poor side, too. But it lies near our new trading route. And that trade route is going to get bigger. And once it does..."

"It won't be a small town anymore." She smiled. Hanging around her 'partner' she quickly realized that business wasn't boring or uninteresting. Indeed, it was so much like typical shinobi covert war that she sometimes just couldn't stop her amazement at how EASY it was to get into it.

And all that dealing, weaseling, pressuring, cajoling the way the kid did his business.. Oh she wasn't bored in the least. Especially considering the little act they had going since the day one.

"And since we're already pumping money, I bet you'll be pumping even more once our little soy deal goes through." She smirked. "What, you planning to own a city or something?"

"Or something." He smiled. "This is a great location, really. It is between the Fire and Wind, but go east, you get the main route to the Wave. Go north, you get the Hidden Marsh. Go even further north, you get the Earth country. The only reasons it has never been used is because the last Great shinobi War wrecked all of the bigger cities around, leaving it the sole village in a larger radius. Not a very profitable place, even though it's on the coast. There are no commercial ports aside form small fisher bays. Both the Wind and the Fire ceded the lands here to make this region a sort of natural buffer country. Poor one, though, since it lacks both trade and resources."

"Until now." Anko cocked her head. "You know, for a kid you know a lot about that shit."

"Language, Setsuna, language." Naruto chided her. "Staying in the role is important. But yeah. I do. A friend of mine told me a lot and then I kept on reading about stuff."

"Then you must have read quite a lot." She raised an eyebrow, falling into her Setsuna act, her body language subtly changing.

Brash, loud and in-your-face she might be, but she was a kunoichi and as such her training covered things male ninja never learned. Like manners, 'womanly' arts, flower arranging and even court behavior. It was rusty, but she was amazed just how much she had remembered form those lessons.

Conjuring the cultured, feminine, if 'don't mess with me' dangerous 'kitten' like Setsuna was astonishingly easy once she started to dig up those memories. A dash of Kurenai's 'ice queen' persona with liberal dose of her graceful poise, a pinch of Hyuuga's cold arrogance and that small, self assured smirk she dimly remembered from the time she met Tsunade, so many years ago. Add the dash of make up, properly expensive and feminine (but non restrictive if things got ugly) clothes and make up and she was set.

Though the 'glint of violence' as Naruto called it, in her eyes, was all her own.

The fact that she actually LIKED the 'Setsuna act' also helped.

"It's not like I had anything better to do, really. They threw me out of the Academy, I didn't have any friends and no kid would play with me. It was going out to play alone or reading. And since people don't like me all that much..." He shrugged. "You'd be amazed how much you can read if you have nothing else to do a whole day long."

"I imagine." She said dryly. "So. Tenshu. Who the hell names such a hole 'Castle Tower' anyway?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Who knows. Who cares." He said. "Besides, it might be a hole..." He grinned. "But it is OUR hole now." He cocked his head to the side. "Or will be soon enough, anyway."

Anko smirked and they turned to watch the workers slowly lay the groundwork for the Ginsen's future office building.

ooo

All in all, Naruto's soy idea was a success

Not at first, not at once, mind you.

The Wind country was a little bit leery and quite hesitant at first.

After all, potatoes were still vegetables, if unknown ones.

Soy as a stand in for meat?

Especially soy that didn't look anything like soy?

But the 'potato deal' gave them more than enough credit to push the issue.

The first batch was a little bit costly. They had to hire the workers,build the facilities, spend almost absurd amount of money on the office.

And then came the trade routes. Tenshu was a rather uncomfortable detour for their trading partners, who were used to their usual routes and saw changing them as a waste of money and effort. But Naruto was stubborn. He wanted the route through Tenshu, for his own reasons.

The problem was solved by Ginsen simply offering to pay any differences.

Grudgingly, the Wind country merchants they traded with agreed, though not without grumbling. Even if they didn't have to shoulder the burden of added costs, time was money.

Naruto didn't relent.

He wanted the route through Tenshu, and that was that.

The first sales of their 'soy meat' were a little awkward. But, as mentioned before, they DID earn quite a bit of credit with potatoes.

Then, the Sunagakure ordered a trial batch for their shinobi field rations.

It was a smashing success Rich in proteins, light, tasty, filling, capable of being stored for a long time without an danger of spoiling...

And above all, far cheaper than meat, which was rather expensive in Suna.

A month later, Sunagakure bought every scarp of their 'soy meat' and placed orders for nearly a year in advance.

Contracts were written, deals were made and the cash started flowing in.

Cash that Naruto used to broaden the scope of their trading operations several times over, buying several large farms and shifting them from traditional crops to potatoes and soy.

But those weren't the only products Ginsen dealt in. Potatoes and soy were fine, but limiting yourself to only two pieces of merchandise would be foolish.

As Anko quickly learned, Naruto was anything but.

Instead of resting on laurels and counting the profits, he took most of the cash and pooled it right back into their enterprise.

Warehouses were bought, grounds were purchased, more workers hired.

Soon, Ginsen went from trading in two, arguably profitable, articles to one of the major food suppliers to the Sunagakure and, in lesser extent, to the Wind country.

It was actually quite easy, in retrospect, to see why.

Trade wasn't just selling things. Before the merchandise actually appeared in the Wind, it went through many hands. Farmers didn't sell their crops directly to the Wind, after all. Smaller companies purchased the crops, then sold them to the merchants, who sold them to the Wind country wholesalers, who sold them to the merchants, who in turn sold them to their customers. And then there were costs of transportation, upkeep, storage and even hiring the shinobi to guard the cargo.

All in all, before a piece of vegetable or meat that was imported appeared on the table of the average citizen, it's initial price grew several times over.

Hence the high prices.

Wind was rich in resources. Well, richer than most countries, anyway. But it's climate was harsher than most countries and very few plants yielded even passable crops. And not many farm animals could withstand the harsh conditions of Wind, much less Suna.

Hence, Wind country imported large part of their food supply from other countries.

Imported, let it be added, at steep prices.

Naruto and Ginsen changed that. With a large amount of resources at his disposal from their first two deals, he had a simple but brilliant idea.

He bypassed the whole system altogether.

It took extreme amount of resources which nearly bled the Ginsen's coffers dry, as well as a lot of work to convince several traditionally minded merchants they dealt with, but it paid off.

Ginsen bought things directly from the suppliers, bypassing the entire line of middlemen usually involved, and took of everything, form transportation to storage, with it's own resources.

When the goods finally reached the Suna markets, the prices were nearly cut in half.

Suna didn't waste any time in recognizing the opportunity.

In barely a year, Ginsen became major food supplier for the Hidden Sand, netting nearly all of the best deals. Suna, eager to avoid the steep prices and more than anxious to keep the steady flow of supplies flowing, offered several very accommodating long term contracts in regards to security.

Ginsen graciously accepted and returned the courtesy with lowering the prices on their potato and soy contracts, hedging it with several exclusive deals.

Needless to say, the Sunagakure/Ginsen working relationship was very amiable.

Rest of the Wind country followed suit shortly after.

At first Anko didn't understand just why Naruto singled out Wind country. Sure, they had the steel and a few other things, but comparing to Fire or some other countries, Wind was poor. And Naruto often gave them preferential treatment, selling the Ginsen's merchandise with smallest possible profits.

After the first deals from the Wind merchants and Sunagakure shinobi stared flowing in, and the tentative offers of trading with more than just food were made, she understood.

Wind was perfect.

By the preferential treatment from the day one, amiable relationship, very accommodating deals and extending the open hand to the Wind right from the start, Ginsen earned incredible amount of good will and a reputation as a fair, competent and, above all, trusted company.

Ginsen never hedged it's deals with 'hidden' costs, never drained Wind country merchants using their weaker position, always paid more than fair price for the goods they bought and sold the high quality merchandise cheaply.

In just a year, merchants grew to like the deals they made with Ginsen. And, more importantly, people liked the company, which meant that if they had to choose between buying from Ginsen or someone else, they more often went for Ginsen's merchandise than not.

In a little over a year, the small silver logo grew into a symbol of quality, fairness and reasonable prices.

And Ginsen grew bigger, turning the sleepy town of Tenshu from a small dot on a map into a trading hub of the Wind country. Each day, the city grew a little bigger as the people, eager for a chance at a new start and tempted with promises of better life flowed in.

Of course, not all of them worked for Ginsen, that would be ridiculous. But many small time merchants opened their shops to give their services to the growing community. Young artisans and craftsmen, wishing to open their own shops instead or just working for the established masters, moved in, setting up their enterprises New couples, baited by the promise of finding their own place, moved in, finding work and home in the growing community.

Indeed, from a sleepy little rural village that people moved OUT from, Tenshu slowly turned into a city of the young people eager for new opportunities and a new start.

Newly wed couples at the gates, eyes wide and slightly fearful of the major life changing decision to move into Tenshu were every day occurrence Children running through the streets in the previously 'old' community where young people escaped for major Wind country cities, were now a common sight.

It wasn't overnight, it wasn't all at once, but Tenshu grew with each passing day.

And in the center of that growing city sat a white, pleasant looking complex of buildings with a moderately sized tower, a silver fan symbol etched on it's top.

Many citizens had no idea why the city had been named 'Castle Tower'. Newcomers decided that, quite obviously, the city must have been named after the white Ginsen tower which became something of a symbol for the town.

Indeed, many people started to refer to the town as 'Ginsen Tenshu'.

When a year later the name appeared on the official documents, nobody protested.

Anko laughed hysterically when she saw the new map with the name in bold letters, indicating an important location.

She thought Naruto was either joking or overly optimistic, proclaiming it 'their hole'.

Well, a year later the brat practically OWNED a small but very prosperous city.

She honestly wasn't surprised when the small Tenshu council sent quiet inquiries if the 'respectable pillar of the community Saito Nagi-san' wouldn't perhaps ponder becoming the Ginsen Tenshu's leader after the current one retired? Just a thought, really.

Though about the equally quiet but far less tentative inquiries from some merchants or even the noble families if Saito Nagi-dono is perhaps married? Or if he is looking for a wife? Or concubine, even?

Those she laughed her ass off about.

And as Setsuna interacted with many of those people on daily basis and many thought HER, of all people, as 'Nagi's' concubine...

Well, it was obvious, really. To them, anyway.

Setsuna was the Saito Nagi's shadow, his right hand, woman of, obviously, great influence with both young Saito and, even more importantly, with the elusive but obviously quite powerful Jin-sama.

People thought her an eye candy at first.

After all, it was natural for wealthy men to surround themselves with female 'assistants' who might not be able to handle business worth spit, but could handle other... duties quite well. It was so frequent it was almost expected of any wealthy noble or merchant to have a concubine or two that would take care of their needs.

And Saito Nagi was very young, obviously just out of his mid teens. Teenage hormones, you know.

Setsuna was an eye candy.

She did nothing to dissuade them from that notion.

She was beautiful, alluring and capable. And very, very dangerous.

Nailing two shinobi bodyguards of the enraged contractor that tried to pressure 'that foolish brat' into the table with her hairpins and then cutting their throats with a smile as she calmly talked about weather drove that point home.

She went from the 'eye candy and concubine' to 'personal assassin and bodyguard'. One rather feared, at that.

Well it wasn't her fault some merchants were jealous enough of Ginsen's success to hire shinobi to 'persuade' young upstart to change his ways.

After she nailed one of the said ninja to the door of his employer with her distinctive hairpins, things quieted down.

Though even Ginsen's own employees started to thread very, very lightly around the beautiful woman that often sat at their boss's desk.  
And when she started to fiddle with her hair and brought her hairpins out, people became oddly, unexplainably pale.

Even the Suna shinobi treaded carefully around her.

Then one of the merchants forgot himself during the negotiations and started threatening. Only to grow very silent and very pale as Lady Setsuna sat on the armrest of Saito Nagi's chair and started twirling her hairpin, smiling that mysterious, slightly gleeful smile.

Then she pricked her finger, as if on accident.

Slowly, deliberately, looking the nervous man in the eye, she licked the blood in a manner that was utterly sensual to onlookers but utterly terrifying to the merchant.

The man sincerely thought he was going to die right that moment.

Then Nagi, young, green and entirely unassuming Saito Nagi smiled and touched Setsuna's hand gently.

The beautiful but, quite obviously psychotic eye candy looked at the young man.

"Mind the carpets." Were the only words.

Setsuna smiled. And nodded, the hairpin vanishing without a trace.

The negotiations went quite smoothly after that.

The next day word got around that Saito Nagi, for all his smiles, polite and cheerful manner, was not a man to be underestimated.

And that he could be as terrifyingly ruthless as his assistant

And if the young man was capable of commanding the maniac like Setsuna with just a word... Just what was the mysterious Jin capable of, to have people like that working for him?

It was masterfully done, a perfect blend of intimidation, force, coercion and pressure to the point of overkill. Just the way to show that Ginsen, for all their easy going manner, was NOT to be trifled with.

The idiot merchant had no idea just how carefully the scene had been plotted out and just how easily he had played into Anko's skillful hands.

As much as she wanted to deny it, Orochimaru's lessons on psychological warfare remained etched deep in her memory.

And seeing the idiots sweat from fear at the mere sight of her was also amusing. Especially coupled with the smug vindication of the earlier, often crude comments and lecherous looks.

Of course, this started yet another rumor, this one among Ginsen's staff present during the meeting, most of whom were, unfortunately, young women. And, even more unfortunately, women who turned out to be romantics at heart.

For the merchants and shinobi present, the easy command and immediate obedience was a mark of a loyal servant.

For the women, and even the kunoichi present?

Oh, they drew their own conclusions.

It took all of her composure to not let her jaw drop when one of the Suna kunoichi commented about how romantic and touching their affection was.

Once the rumor started, of course, there was no way to contain it.

It was beyond ironic that what women perceived as 'romantic and touching' served only to affirm Saito Nagi's position as one dangerous son of a bitch.

After all, what kind of brass balls it took to get himself a woman like that and keep her? Sure, Setsuna was a hot babe and all, but it was like sleeping with a cobra! Yet this brat, barely out of his mid teens, not even shaving regularly, just tamed that particular snake.

Naruto was embarrassed. Anko found it hilarious. She'd found it even more hilarious when Naruto made a mistake and tried to suggest that there was nothing between them.

It was a disaster. Instead of rumor dying it's natural death, each and every Ginsen's employee and people involved with the company were sure that there was something going on now.

A company rumor became a widely known 'fact'.

Naruto wanted to hit his head on his expensive mahogany desk each time he heard it.

Anko? Well, she didn't know if to be amused or flattered when one of the 'prospects', a young noble woman, flat out stated that she wouldn't mind 'sharing' if Setsuna put a good word for her.

And she was seriously hot, to boot.

All in all, working for, or rather with, Naruto was fun. Sure it wasn't her usual brand of entertainment, what with the distinctive lack of explosions, enemies getting cut up to pieces and other such fun things, but the pleasures of seeing their competitors sweat under the pressure as they were outmaneuvered, rival companies getting ruined with one, swift stroke or getting bought out before they knew what was happening...

Ah, that was the reward in itself.

And it wasn't like she didn't do her share of typical ninja jobs, aside from guarding the brat.

Steal a bit of evidence for blackmail, press some poor schmuck for information, a little industrial espionage... Nothing big, but more than enough to keep her satisfied and her skills sharp.

Sharper, even.

With the outrageous amount of money they had been making, Anko didn't need to settle for the cheap stuff.

When she went for the sword, she didn't need to buy some decent, but cheap, mass produced crap. She went straight to the Mist swordsmith and commissioned the best blade money could buy. Armor? Best Yukigakure steel, accept no substitutes. Top notch kunai, straight from the Sand armories. The best poisons from the Hidden Marsh.  
The best training equipment.

Jutsu? Please.

She didn't need to dig into her own meager collection, made up mostly from what Orochimaru left after his defection and what hadn't been confiscated by the Sandaime.

She didn't need to all but beg, and frequently fail due to her past, to get access to even chuunin stuff in the shinobi Archives.

If the jutsu was out there and if the scroll existed, she could buy it. Even if it didn't, hiring some sufficiently greedy shinobi to get it for her was a no brainer.

So what if they overpriced her several times over? She didn't even need to use her own money for that. Naruto simply wrote it off as 'operational security budget' without batting an eye. After all, she was his bodyguard first and foremost. If she needed something, anything, to make her stronger or better, she got it. It was that simple.

The greatest proof of that was her sword, the Hebitsukai.

On a whim, she decided to get the best blade she could. She wanted to kill Orochimaru, and for that she needed tools. The bastard had the Kusanagi, which was one of the best swords ever created. She needed one of her own. There was a man, named Takasugi Gen, rumored to be the greatest swordsmith in several generations, whose blades were without peer in the shinobi world. She tracked the geezer down. He refused. She offered an outrageous sum of money. He still refused. She offered enough money to buy a small town. The geezer threw her out, snarling that he would never make a sword for a person unable to handle it like it deserved.

She came back to Ginsen Tenshu all pissed and in general bad mood, bad enough to rant and curse and scowl.

Naruto listened, asked a question or two. She let the steam off after a few days.

A month later a tall, very old man appeared at the Ginsen Tenshu's gates, asking for her by name. The man was Nishinori Saizo, the former leader of Kirigakure's Shinobigatana Nannanin Shu and widely regarded as the best swordsman in history.

He came to Ginsen Tenshu to teach her his style.

She had no idea just how outrageous amount of money Naruto had to use to hire Saizo, but it had to be incredible, and she had a sneaking suspicion that more than just money was involved in the deal.

Saizo resigned as a shinobi after the Third Great Shinobi war was over and sworn never to wield the sword again. But her came and taught her everything he could in two years before he died, leaving her the sole successor of his deadly skills.

Gen was so damn impressed he made the Hebitsukai for her without charging a single penny.

It was then that Anko realized just how much power one could wield with proper resources. Oh she always understood that, to a point, but never in such a glaringly obvious way like then. Her dream of killing... no, surpassing and THEN killing her bastard of an ex-teacher was more than a pipe dream now.

With Ginsen's resources she already went from 'very capable' to 'fucking dangerous'. She wasn't in the quite same league like, say Kakashi.

Yet.

But if she improved to the current level in barely two years worth of training, and not even exclusive one at that...

Anko threw herself into Ginsen's operations with new vigor after that realization.

Ginsen was big. Very big, especially considering that the brat made it out of nothing, just with one kunoichi as a partner and his own lack of experience. If you took that under the consideration, Ginsen wasn't just big - it was fucking huge.

In the Wind, anyway.

Orochimaru had resources. She knew that. The old, rotten snake was always good at getting them and hoarding them to fuel his plans. She would bet that by now, the old man surrounded himself with lackeys, results of his experiments and large deal of fucking stupidly blind and devoted servants.

She'd never equal him alone.

With Naruto, however, she had a chance. More than a chance.

Orochimaru was good, true. But he was a shinobi. Naruto? When it came to business, the kid was magic. Sure, he was green. Sure, he made mistakes. But he won more often than not. He made deals carefully. He always had a backup plan. Sometimes his deals backfired. He wasn't unflappable. But he learned with astonishing speed and had the raw, natural talent at making money. And Ginsen just kept growing bigger.

The kid would go far. THEY would go far. He just needed to have somebody watching his back, protecting him form his own bouts of naivety. He was still a kid, after all. The first time she killed an assassin after his head he vomited right after. Thankfully there were no witnesses.

But the brat was tough. He managed. He learned. And she was there to handle more... unpleasant things that he'd might otherwise lack guts for.

Business was no picnic, after all. Especially not when the rival businessmen could hire shinobi to force the issue.

But she was there with him, every step of the way. Watching his back, keeping him together when he was close to cracking under the pressure and giving harsh lessons on how the world worked when needed.

The first time, he had hired her. The second time, the company did.

Third time, she started a long term retainer contract, one that she was still under.

Theoretically.

Because, seeing as she was Naruto's partner, she just basically hired herself.

Drawing two paychecks, especially since one of them she signed herself for herself, was amusing.

Drawing a third one, a quiet continuous c-class mission form the Sandaime himself, was hilarious, since it considered keeping an eye on one Uzumaki Naruto, who worked for Ginsen at a proud position of a general errand boy, gopher and crate packer.

Setsuna signed his paychecks as well.

The annual reports of the 'mission' were a trying experience. It took all of her composure not to laugh at the old man, worried for 'poor Naruto' when she fed him carefully prepared bunch of half truths mixed with outright lies.

And the biggest kick was the fact that even if the whole charade became known, she would be almost squeaky clean since she acted on behalf of her client and the 'client confidentiality' clause came into play.

She and Naruto had established a comfortable routine: he made money, took care of the red tape and worked on his seemingly harebrained but usually very profitable schemes and she watched his back, protected him from his own stupidity at times and took of the more unpleasant things that came their way.

Of course, it wasn't always fun and games and sometimes those small unpleasant things grew into large, very unpleasant things.

Where is success, there are vultures eager to rip their scraps of meat.

Vultures like Yakuza.

ooo

Naruto rubbed his temples tiredly

"So, he's not only stealing from us, but also using our own warehouses to smuggle... what was it again?" He looked at Anko in her Setsuna guise.

"Drugs." She said looking at the small pile of gathered data.

"Drugs." Naruto sighed heavily, closing his eyes. "Oh wonderful. Fucking wonderful. Just what I needed. And how did he manage it anyway?"

"Wind customs are not as strict when it comes to our cargo." Anko shrugged. "Hell, they are looser than a Wave country whore! They don't want to upset us AND they want to keep the flow of merchandise going so they do it fast. And fast means sloppy in this case." She smirked. "It's your own damn fault for making us so liked around there, you know."

Naruto glared at his partner.

"Just stating the truth, lover boy." She smiled. "Is my master stressed?" She cooed. "Should the faithful concubine help to relieve the god awful... pressure that Nagi-sama must be feeling, hmm?"

"Not. Funny." He gritted out, eyebrow twitching.

"Oh HELL yeah it is." Anko grinned.

"No it isn't but that's beside the damn point." He snapped. "We have more pressing matters to attend to, so if my faithful concubine, bodyguard and assistant would be so FUCKING kind and assist, goddammit?!"

Needless to say, two years of Anko-exposure did nothing to improve his vocabulary. It did, however, do more than enough to expand it considerably.

"Oh but am I not assisting my beloved master?" She batted her eyes coyly, something very easy to do with Setsuna's long eyelashes and beautiful delicate face. "Stress kills, Nagi-sama." She chuckled, hearing his gritting teeth. "You know, you'll regret not taking me up on those offers when you're older. Hell, you'll be banging your head against the wall each time you remember it." She made a solemn face. "Why of why had I rejected that utterly awesome, sexy babe? I am such a goddamn IDIOT!"

"Why oh why did I fucking choose you as my partner in the first place?" Naruto deadpanned. "I'm SUCH a goddamn idiot!"

"It's because I'm fucking awesome." She said as a matter of fact, before tapping her cheek thoughtfully. "Well that and I'm only person crazy enough to trust an eight year old in creating a trading company."

Naruto sighed.

"Can we focus on the matters at hand, please?" He asked.

"Well... We have the guy. Now we have two choices." She raised a finger. "Number one: we throw the stupid bastard to the authorities. They catch him, throw him in jail or execute him. Not something I'd recommend."

"And why not?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Let the authorities deal with him." He paused. "Though now that I look at it, we'd lose some credibility. Smuggling using our warehouses..." He winced. "Oh now that would hurt our credibility a little."

"Try 'deal it a critical blow'." Anko said flatly.

Naruto cocked his head.

"Explain."

"This guy isn't doing it on his own. He is for one, too stupid, for two, lacks the balls." Anko said as a matter of fact. "I looked into it and asked some questions." She flashed a grin and Naruto tried not to cringe, knowing that 'I smashed some heads in' grin all to well. "Did you know that our little Aramaki Juzo is a gambler? A shitty one, at that, since he owns over fifty thousand ryo to the minor Yakuza oyabun?"

"Fifty thousand?" Naruto's eyes widened. "How the fuck did the guy with his pay manage to lose that kind of money?"

"Because he's a moron, an addict and has no idea when to stop?" Anko said dryly. "Anyway, I'm sure that this whole drug thing? Not his idea. I bet that the Yaks are using him and his connections to run the whole thing with a legit front."

"OUR front." Naruto said darkly. "I don't care if they are Yaks or not. NOBODY steals from me or uses me."

"Confronting them head on would be stupid." Anko tapped the papers. "Sure, we have enough evidence here to bury some of them. No problem. Wind country authorities would probably thank us, even. But that brings another problem. We'd never root the yaks out. Some of them would walk away. And they'd never let it go or forgive."

"So what?" Naruto snorted. "Anko, we have practically a small army of Suna nin on damn near retainer. We have our own small, but growing security force, made up from several high and mid level shinobi. Let them try. In fact, I'd even like to see it."

"Don't be an idiot, Naruto." She grimaced. "I mean, honestly. Nearly two years in the business and you still think like that. Listen." She leaned in. "Yaks won't confront you head on. No. They'll simply raise a shitload of stink, bribe, cajole, pressure and threaten. They'll cripple some of our operations, but that's a minor concern. They'll use the fact that the drugs had been ran for hell knows how long through OUR warehouses, under OUR noses, making us look as if we were quiet partners and sold them to the authorities to save our own skins. Our rivals tried things like that before, but we were clean. Now they actually have something they CAN use. even if by blowing it out of proportion. But you know how rumors get. So the major concern here is..."

"...Reputation." Naruto groaned. "Goddammit, you're right. We'll lose a shitload of credibility either way."

"And you yourself said this is our major resource." She nodded. "See?We do this, we might as well hand our rivals and Yaks the kunai to slit out throats with."

"...Shit." Naruto closed his eyes, rubbing his temples again. He opened them after a long moment, looking at Anko. "Okay, you obviously have an idea since you listed two ways of solving this."

"Oh I do." She nodded calmly. "But I guarantee you're not going to like it."

"Well I don't exactly see a choice here." He said dryly. "Let's hear it."

She was silent for a long while, before looking at Naruto.

"Do you know how did the Third Great Shinobi War start?" She said finally.

Naruto shrugged.

"Something about the usual bickering between the Grass and Rain that went out of control, from what I remember." He frowned. "What has that got to do with anything?"

"Not wrong, but not right either." She nodded. "The scuffles between Grass and Rain were real, all right. Both were created as the buffer countries during the Second war and butted heads from the day one. However, the conflicts were local." She smirked. "That is until there was some traces of Orhialcon found in one of the caves, indicating a larger supply. That's when things got ugly"

"I don't remember anything about orihlacon." Naruto frowned thoughtfully.

"Of course you don't." Anko chuckled. "Because there wasn't any. Or rather there was an extremely small amount of it. All planted by the Hidden Marsh."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up.

"Not something many people know. The villages tried to blot the truth, since they all fell for it. The Hidden Marsh wanted the steel mines in the mountains and the fertile rice fields of their neighbor country, which had a treaty with the Rain. Rain was too strong to attack it directly. So Marsh planted the Orihalcon and threw it right between two bitter rivals willing to fight over a lump of charcoal if it gave them the reason.

Problem was, both Rain and Grass had allies. Allies who wouldn't usually involve themselves in their stupid usual bickering. But both Rain and Grass' spies made a mistake. Instead of planned modest resource, they judged it a major one. And the larger countries grew involved, drawing in the major villages right with them. " Anko clapped. "Boom."

"Okay, so we had our bit of history, what are you...?"

Anko raised a finger pointedly.

"Yaks aren't a monolith people sometimes think they are. Even within factions, there are clans and gangs vying for power. Quietly, but with the right incentive, it can go from lukewarm to outright boiling." She grinned. " So I say, let's give them the incentive. Our own orihlacon."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Let's say, that some... people. People that can, say, offer them a smuggling deal. Or something like it. Very good one, safe one. Profitable. Say, like smuggling drugs." Anko waved the paper. "Like that. Why work with the small fries, when you can go for big bucks? Larger deals. Better money. Low risk. Of course, 'our' Yaks won't go for it. They have their own channel, they own most of the market why share it? Resentment. Jealousy."

"Greed. They don't want to share. It is their own route, after all." Naruto said slowly, eyes widening in understanding.

"Oh yeah." Anko nodded empathically. "The situation heats up. And then... Juzo-san meets an unfortunate end." She clapped. "Boom." She said gleefuly.

"Anko... Not to cut holes into your idea, but..." Naruto said slowly. "That would mean a gang war. How does that help us?"

"Simple. They'll be too busy with each other to react with any sembalnce of thought as we wipe them out to the last man via discreetly hired, very well paid mercenaries." Anko said calmly. "And then we plant the false evidence, destroy any linking us to the case and walk away scot-free and squeaky clean."

Naruto leaned back in his large chair.

"...Damn." He muttered, closing his eyes. "Anko... As good plan as it is... Fuck. This will be a blood bath."

"Life's tough, Naruto." She said calmly. "You said it yourself - you can't let that slide. This is war, brat. There might be no armies, but there sure as hell are battles here. It is either you or them."

There was a long period of silence.

"Let's do it."

ooo

The plan was good. A little brutal... well, very brutal, but effective.

The Yakuza clans took the bait. Hook, line and sinker.

It went flawlessly.

Almost too flawlessly.

There were two old adages that summed the situation perfectly

One is: no plan survives the contact with the enemy.

The second? Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Anko wanted the yaks to fight.

What they got was the reenactment of the Third Great Shinobi war on the smaller scale on Yakuza terms. Apparently, somewhere over the line somebody exaggerated profits, or lost it totally. Or Yakuza treaties were more binding than the usual cutthroat criminal politics?

Who knew.

In barely two months, a small gang scuffle turned into a covert criminal war drawing all major Yakuza clans in the area and, in some extreme cases, beyond.

ooo

"So. Let's sum it up." Naruto looked at the ceiling. "We had a small Yakuza problem. Now we have a fucking large Yakuza war. Which we, or rather you and your brilliant plan, are responsible for. Which authorities, as stupid, lazy, corrupt and weak as they are, already managed to spot. The war, because that's what it is, managed to involve any major and minor hood in a hundred mile radius. We have no way of stopping it. No way of controlling it." He threw a sideways look at Anko. "Congratulations Anko. You turned a little smuggling into a full out war. Now that... takes a real talent."

"Shut the fuck up." Said the irritated woman. "I don't remember you having any better ideas."

"Well they were certainly better than a fucking WAR on our goddamn DOORSTEP!" The blond growled.

Anko just took a sip of sake.

"Sorry."

"No. If anyone should be sorry here it's me." Naruto sighed. "I went with the idea, I'm as guilty as you." He eyed the sake for a while. "Gimmie that." He snatched the bottle, taking a long ship, and coughing. Not relenting, he swallowed the leftover alcohol and took another. "Bleargh." He grimaced. "This crap tastes horrible."

"You'll learn to like it soon enough." Anko smirked.

Naruto grimaced, but took another ship.

There was a long silence.

"You know, I really do hope that those mercenaries you hired are worth their price." He said finally.

ooo

"Kakuzu."

The Takigakure nukenin looked at the two robed figures.

"You have called us here. Explain." Itachi's monotone was as lifeless as usual. Kakuzu doubted the young man's voice would change even if he had been mortally stabbed in the gut.

The nukenin looked at his comrades, before coughing.

"As you already know, the Akatsuki, aside from working towards our main goal undertakes the occasional mission for private contractors if the price is right." He took out two scrolls, giving one to Kisame and other to the Uchiha genius. "We were just asked to perform such mission. In these scrolls you will find your targets. All must be dead before the date specified in the scroll. All." The takigakure nukenin warned. "Or the mission is invalid and we don't get a penny. None can escape. Also, the client asked as to be through and, quote 'leave a lasting impression' unquote." Kakuzu grinned. "Considering the large amount of money we are getting, he can demand anything he wants."

"How large is 'large' for you, Kakuzu?" Kisame drawled lazily, opening the scroll.

Kakuzu shot the sum.

Kisame's jaw dropped.

Even the usually unshakable Uchiha Itachi looked stunned, judging by his wide eyed stare.

"Well shit." Kisame said after a long moment. "Somebody must really hate those guys."

Kakuzu shrugged.

"Well then, gentlemen." Kisame hefted Samahada on his arm with a grin. "Let's go and kill ourselves some Yaks."

ooo


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Edited by Skelethin.

---

The Art of the Deal chapter 3

---

"How to win friends and influence people."

---

Slide.

Slide.

Ker-klak goes the trigger.

Slide.

It slides open.

The bow opens.

The spring coils.

The bolt is in.

Ker-klak goes the trigger.

And another slides open.

Like before...

The bolt is in.

And it is loose.

Ker-klak goes the trigger.

And another one goes.

Slide.

Slide.

The magazines slide into place.

The seals shift. The mix that would be his chakra in other life...

...flows.

Drained.

But...

Slide.

Slide.

Ker-klak goes the trigger.

"Boom."

And the two explosions rock the country side.

Slide. Slide.

Faster.

Go faster.

Seals get drained.

Down the drain it goes.

How many days had the intricate little symbols on his wrists been draining the chakra?

Don't care. Don't care.

Ker-klak, goes the trigger.

Ker-klak, goes the trigger.

With both hands. At once.

The target gets one. And two.

And three.

Four.

Eye.

Throat.

Heart.

Head shot.

And here it goes.

"Boom."

Explosive notes...

Fun, fun, fun.

Who needs a jutsu when you have explosive notes tied around the bolt?

"Boom. Heh."

Stone... ceases to exist.

Target dummies get vaporized.

Slide back. Slide back.

Both of them.

Like the Rubik's cube.

The bows close.

Magazines... close as well.

The crossbows... go back where they came form.

Hiss.

What?

Ah. Right.

Too fast. Hurts like a BITCH!

Wrists. Forearms.

Storage seals burn. Right there. Right on the flesh. IN flesh.

Crossbows... are too fucking big for quick storage. Really.

How large were the seals again?

Ah.

Right.

And here goes the tremble.

Oh. Off the mark.

No wonder. Hands shaking. Arms screaming with pain.

Damn.

"Man... You suck."

"Shut up!"

Hurts but...

Yesssss...

That's it.

Cold metal. Nice metal.

Metal in hand.

Sharp metal.

Sharp steel.

Kunai... suck.

"Anybody who uses kunai as a primary throwing weapon is either very, very good... Or an idiot."

Most ninja do.

"Most ninja are idiots. Sheep. Kunai is a KNIFE, Naruto. Want to throw something? Use shuriken. Faster. More precise. Want to throw something REALLY precise? Use senbon. You can't go wrong with that."

Okay.

So.

The Seal spits them out.

Cold. Steel.

Five. In each hand.

Like fingers.

Steel fingers.

"GO! FASTER!"

Nag nag NAG!

But off he goes.

Not as powerful as the bolt. Not as accurate. But still precise.

"Better."

"Heh. Nice, nice. Problem is... those don't MOVE!"

Duck. Weave. Right under the pointy things thrown by a madwoman.  
And steel goes right. Over. The. FUCKING. HEAD!

"Hmm? Slowing down?"

Mock. Smirk.

Kunai gets a languid lick.

What. The. FUCK?!

"Chakra... Ninja are USED to that, you know. Chakra this, jutsu that... Chakra, chakra CHAKRA. Speed? Chakra. Strength? Chakra? Senses...? Oooh. Chakra as well. Imagine that. Now... what is the fucking wrong with this picture?"

"Moron."

Sigh.

"NOT! LISTENING!"

Ouh.

That... hurt.

"You haven't been fucking listening AT ALL!"

Kunai gets another lick.

But this time, a bloody one.

"But I'll fix that... brat."

Step, Step. Step.

Slow. Deliberate. Scary, scary woman.

"Your disability... it is your greatest weapon now."

Step. Loom.

"Wanna know why?"

Grin.

"Cause your coils... are fucked up. You don't channel. You don't mold. And you emit so damn fucking minute amounts... it as well might be fuckin' zero."

Wider grin. Predatory one.

"Let me give you a lesson, blondie. A major lesson. Shinobi LIKE their chakra. Rely on it. Use it. Covet it. Live, breath and fucking SLEEP with it. And that is their weakness."

Oh REALLY?

Spitting fire at will is a weakness? Imagine that.

"Now don't go looking at me like that. I know what I'm talkin' about."

Raised finger. Pointedly.

"Did you know, that the greatest assassinations in ninja history were almost always done without a jutsu? A thrown weapon. Bare hands. Kunai. Knife. Poison. Jutsu? No. Why? I mean... Just snap a seal or two. Spit a fireball. Boom! Grilled sucker. Mission accomplished. And then die. 'Cause the bodyguards will sniff the jutsu a mile a way. Or worse. Stop it. Knife to the back is WAY better than any jutsu if you want to go about killing somebody."

Kunai whistles just next to ear. Bullseye.

Off hand. Of course.

"The best skill in an assassin's arsenal is learning how to remain unnoticed. That means no flaring chakra like some cocky little chuunin that just got promoted. No going 'I'm a big bad ninja - feel my fucking chakra reserves as I radiate them all over town'. No pissing contests to show just how much of a badass you are. No. Silent. Not a whisper. Chakra pressed. Not used. Fucking HIDDEN. Problem? It takes a SHITLOAD of chakra control. Jounin can do it. Not perfectly, though. If somebody gets too close or has really fuckin' good senses?"

Low yield explosive note goes off.

Debris gets strewn all around. Not on her, though. Oh no. Mitarashi Anko KNOWS her explosives.

Bitch.

"Bang. You're dead."

Mad grin.

"You have it. You don't like it, you hate it... but you have it. Too little chakra to be felt. Too little chakra to be sensed just split second before to block. To indicate that you WILL carve the guy in two. But you... you are fucking INVISIBLE."

She reaches for weapons. Fluidly. Lazily.

Up goes the senbon.

Down goes the kunai.

Both are caught.

"You can't go toe to toe with any ninja. Even taijutsu, as pure combat as it gets, needs chakra. Not molded, but channeled. For strength, for speed. So... They'll fucking kill you. The end."

Her hand moves. Too fast to perceive, too fast notice that glint of steel.

Shhhunk!

Drip. Drip.

Red spills from the papercut on the cheek.

Crazy bitch.

"But you know... Ninja. One bastard told me a long time ago: 'If a ninja is forced to fight a straight fight. If a ninja is forced to reveal his presence and fight AT ALL... He isn't a much of one.' Bastard that he was. Is. But he's right."

Tremble... passes.

Hands are steady again.

Still hurt like a bitch, though.

"Good. You're getting used to that. Not bad. Not bad at all. You wanna know what you just did? You just mastered a quick storage sealing art. Upper chuunin level skill. Quick retrieval is borderline jounin. Seals? Varies. In two. Fucking. Years. Congratulations are in order, brat. Now you're a fucking walking arsenal. Without the need for a scroll. Limited amount... but no scrolls. No seals. No blood. Backlash hurts like bitch if you go too fast with bigger things, though."

How nice of you to fucking tell me that NOW!

"Ooh! Good eyes, Naruto-kun. That palpable hate... that rage I can fucking TASTE! Makes me tingly all over, Naruto-kun! Little more and I'll blush from excitement. Come on! Give me more!"

Crazy... doesn't begin to cover it.

"I told you I've been teaching you basic taijutsu for the last two years, right? I lied."

Somebody is gonna die.

"Oh yeeeeah... Mmm! Thaaat's the pepper! That's the stuff! I can just FEEL the love, Naruto-kun!"

Slide.

Hiss.

Seal spats the steel to the waiting hand.

And off. You. GO!

"Hooo...? Showin' fangs? Hasty, hasty... but I'll indulge you. Come on!"

One. Two. Three.

All precise.

"Missed me. Missed. Missed agaaaaain!"

All miss.

Another one.

"Missed me ag- Ooh...! Nice! You're paying for the new coat, of course."

Shut up and DIE!

"Hahahahaha! YEAH! That's the stuff!"

Up and down.

Up and down.

Like a frog on speed.

Fast. Fast. FAST!

Damn but she is fast!

No matter.

Hiss.

The seal gives two more.

And one. And two.

And ten.

Watch her dance around them. Watch her wave and smirk.

Lose it completely.

Grit your teeth.

Pain matters fucking NOT!

Slide open.

Slide fast.

Arms of the bow slide open.

Best that money can buy.

Make, actually.

Old design. Fucking ancient. Obsolete. Ninja don't use crossbows.

Nobody does.

Almost.

Snow had a right idea.

Nice weapon. Obsolete. Civilian.

Sneer, ninja. Sneer.

Bolts are fast.

Ker-klak go the triggers.

Ker-klak go the magazines.

Weave and dance, bitch.

Busy with kunai. Senbon. Shuriken.

Bolts are fast.

"...NO!"

Realization... is too slow.

Smoke.

"What...?"

"See?" Gleeful. Open. But... nice. No sneer. No mocking.

"You just killed me. Congratulations."

...What the FUCK?!

Anko smirked, looking at the dissipating smoke.

"Kage Bunshin. Useful as decoys. Less power than the original but... You just killed me. Eyes busy with the pointy stuff. Body with dodging. And that little danger sense, that little warning you get before the guy is about to use something nasty? None. Because you don't give out one." She turned to Naruto, looking at him seriously.

"What I've been teaching you... This ain't taijutsu at all. What you have been learning is an assassins art. No flash. No overhead kicks or acrobatics... Substance. Masked intent. Moves that conserve energy and give no hint, no warning. Honestly? I didn't know if you could make it. And damn... Here you go. Heh. Bang. I'm dead. Buy me some good sake to spill on the grave. No flowers, though. Well, unless you've got roses. Wait... Screw the roses! Give me the thorns!" She sing songed gleefully.

Naruto just stared.

"Crazy bitch." He muttered finally.

"Of course. Of course I am. But I'm your bitch."

She grinned smugly.

"Aren't you happy to have me, brat?"

---

Crossbow.

Crossbows, rather.

Two of them.

Naruto stretched out his hand, briefly touching the faint symbol on the inside of his palm.

A short hiss later, the crossbow appeared, leaving the seal.

Or rather the rough shape of a crossbow.

It took another moment for the bow to unlock.

'Slow.' He frowned.

The design was actually fairly old now, back from before the First Great Shinobi War. Snow Country was always a place of innovation, even if some of the inventions were considered obsolete in the ninja world.

The crossbow, like the bow, was an obsolete weapon.

Augmented with chakra, ninja preferred kunai, shuriken and other thrown weapons.

Bows fell into disuse a long time ago. Crossbows fared no better.

During a long, bloody and bitter First Great Shinobi War, many civilians were left without protection as the Shinobi Nations duked it out and civilians needed a way to protect themselves. Crossbows and bows had a brief resurgence. And a quick, painful death as shinobi reaffirmed their position on top of the food chain.

But Snow made some brilliant ideas. Crossbows were good weapons. Unlike bows, they required less skill and strength, but had a great weakness - the rate of fire.

Snow engineer's answer was the magazine-fed, repeating crossbow.

Though to call it a crossbow would be an overstatement. It was more akin to a dart thrower, hurling small, light bolts with great velocity and passable accuracy.

For Naruto, it was a great weapon. But... still not enough.  
But money go a long way towards solving some problems.

He hired one of the best engineers money could buy, paid an outrageous amount of money and provided the needed resources.

The result was Kyuushin-class repeating dart thrower.

Streamlined, less bulky, almost half the size of the original and far more accurate. Thanks to the chakra-saturated steel and a complicated seal array on the lower part of the crossbow to provide the needed power for the release mechanism.

Magazine holding fifteen small bolts each, effective range of thirty meters, forty in a pinch, and a rate of fire of one bolt per second...

It was a marvel.

Marvel that, due to the chakra-steel and orichalcon, not to mention the complicated seal array, ended up costing more than the equipment for a full ANBU squad, combined.

Naruto honestly didn't care.

Of course, it needed to be recharged and ate power from the seals like crazy but that was a minor problem. His storage seals could be modified easily enough to provide needed power to recharge the arrays.

Of course, he wouldn't be stupid enough to think such a weapon made him an equal to a shinobi. No. That would be foolish. Still, a little bit of edge was better than no edge at all.

And he was good with it.

"Four."

Anko snorted.

"No way you're gonna hit four." She pointed at him. "Three. And I'm being generous here."

"Four." Naruto smirked. "And I can bet you whatever you want that It'll be bulls eye, too."

"Oh?" Anko leaned in. "Ho ho ho... Funny things you're saying here, Naruto." She smirked. "Anything I want, huh?" She tapped her cheek. "How about a new Okuni kimono?"

Naruto winced.

He was rich, but the clothes made by the Okuni were probably the single most sought after articles of clothing among noblewomen. Anko, in her Setsuna guise, already had one. Another...

'Those things cost a bloody fortune!'

Sure, he had money, but... It would come from his private stash!

Those were the rules. They didn't pay for their bets with the company money. It was just something that wasn't done.

"Okuni... and what if I win?" The blond raised an eyebrow.

"You won't." She shrugged. "Come on, Naruto. It is one bolt per second. There are four targets. Three seconds. And the targets move fast enough to avoid some of the kunai I'm practicing with. You and Kyuushin? No contest. You're good, but not that good."

"But what if I win? Just humor me." He twirled his crossbow on his index finger. He like doing that, for some reason. Even if he had to watch out for the mechanism that unlocked the bow.

"If you win... Hmm." she cocked her head to the side thoughtfully.

He looked on with fascination.

Setsuna and Anko, while being the same person, were two different people.

Anko was loud, brash, violent and often crude. Though she had that strange love for the Tea ceremony that stumped him. She dressed in a way polite people would call very daring, carried herself in a manner that not so polite people would call fucking rude.

And she didn't give a fuck.

Setsuna was graceful like the silk cheongsams she wore. Refined vixen, with that amused half-smile on her lips and eyes flashing amber. There was underlying torrent of sex and danger around her, with brief flashes of menace. But where Anko's menace was like an axe to the head or kunai through the gut, Setsuna's was like a poison in one's drink, an elegant knife slitting the throat.

Just as dangerous, but more hidden.

Anko was the Warrior, the one that cut, crushed and had a jolly good time among the blood and carnage of the most intense combat. Setsuna was the Assassin. The one to smile, to entice and mislead, to seduce and enthrall to stab where it hurt the most with a small, mysterious smile.

He knew that as much as he liked being Saito Nagi, Anko had a ball being Setsuna.

Because he caught on fairly early that to play the role, one had to BECOME the role.

'Caught on?' He snorted mentally. 'It was the only thing Konoha taught me!'

But it was a valuable lesson. Besides, Konoha and its idiot citizens gave him Anko and as much as he griped, he couldn't dream of a better partner.

'I guess I need to thank them some way.' He thought absently, looking at Anko's thoughtful face.

It was beyond bizarre to see Anko and 'Setsuna' mold into one being in some small gestures.

A toss of hair. A careless shrug. A small smile, a mocking smirk...

'Surreal.' He thought with amusement.

When she was 'outside', she played her part perfectly. Either Anko the Konoha nin on retainer or, to much greater extent, Setsuna, the right hand of Ginsen's CEO.

But when they were alone...

It was absolutely fascinating to see the two different women meet in one body. He sometimes wondered if she had a split personality. Though that would mean that so did he.

Not that it mattered, really.

"So?" he grinned, buffing his nails.

"If you win... You get to lose that pesky virginity once you come of age!" She said triumphantly. "Now if that ain't generous I don't know what is!"

"Denied." He said flatly. "I'd like something more tangible, you shotacon."

"Hey, those are VERY tangible." She smirked, pushing out her chest and breathing deeply. "You'll regret that, brat. You'll see." She giggled. "You'll be changing sheets after long, steamy nights of dreams... And you'll wake up only to see that you're all alone and you'll curse the day you said no to the awesomeness that is me." She nodded sagely.

"Yes. I'm sure I will." He said dryly. "Well?"

"I'll teach you some cool stuff?" She offered.

"Last time the 'cool stuff' turned out to be drinking that vodka thing a la Mad Dog. I can still feel that Tabasco sauce."

"What can I say?" She grinned. "Those cook books are good for something. Besides, the vodka sales make us quite a pretty penny. And Mad Dog is pure genius and you know it."

"I think I'll wait with alcoholism until I'm at least fourteen."

"Bah!" She waved her hand airily. "Old enough to lead a company, old enough to drink I say."

"I'll pass, thank you."

"Tough crowd." She scowled. "You're one troublesome bastard, you know that?"

"I learned from the best." He grinned.

"Cheeky, cheeky." She tsked. "But fine. If you want to play, who am I to say no, hmm?" She smirked. "Okay. You do this... And I swear I'll help you with those marriage offers."

"Help me how?" He asked suspiciously. "'Cause knowing you, you'd help them and watch laughing your ass off."

"No, no. I'll help you to make them get off your case. Not permanently, 'cause that'd be impossible, but it'd at least make your life easier. What do you say?"

"Details." He barked

"Ah ah!" She wagged the finger playfully. "Take it or leave it."

Naruto looked at his partner.

He frowned. He looked at training range.

"Hmm."

Two matte black crossbows spun in his hands as he twirled them deftly.

There was a quick clank of the release mechanisms as the bows emerged at the fronts and the magazines connected.

"You're on." He smirked.

"Hoo..." She grinned. "So sure of yourself, ain't ya?"

She grabbed the lever.

"Heh. Okay! Get ready to shell out some serious cash, blondie!" She said gleefully pulling it.

One.

Naruto didn't try to think. Didn't try to see.

He took in the scenery all at once.

The targets...

...moved.

Arrows followed.

The magazines clicked, releasing another bolt each.

Two.

The bolts were in.

He didn't wait for them to settle.

He pulled the triggers.

Anko just stared.

Naruto smirked.

"And this is how you do it!" He informed her gleefully.

Anko just shook her head dumbly.

'Damn that brat.' She thought, before grinning. 'Heh. The promise is the promise, though.'

---

Naruto tried not to glare at his... partner as they walked out of the conference hall.

His eyebrow was twitching, though, and Setsuna looked so damn smug it was criminal.

'Well no fucking wonder.' He seethed internally.

The negotiations weren't difficult.

They were quite easy, actually. Or would be, if not for the fact that the young noblewoman sent by her father to negotiate the deal in his place tried to shamelessly seduce him.

He had to admit, after two years of dealing with that kind of overtures he could spot talent. Had she been hitting on a mature man, she would have succeeded. Thankfully, that was not his problem. Yet.

He had, however, another problem.

One of dark haired, amber eyed variety that held his arm smugly in a manner that was far too close to be called merely friendly.

"My lord... Is anything the matter?" Taki, one of his attendants (who doubled as bodyguards, of course), said with a worried frown. "Has the negotiation not gone as you wished. Did the... woman, insult you in any way?" Taki's pretty face hardened, becoming cold and grim.

Taki was among the oddest ninja in his personal staff and that was saying something.

River Country never had a ninja village, since it was basically created after the Second War. But the territories had been a home to a small number of very old ninja clans who were unwilling to submit to any hidden village. Most of them had been decimated during the Third War, losing both power and prestige and becoming, in essence, paupers. But they didn't forget their pride.

Taki was a scion of one such clan, the Kokuen. The formerly powerful clan had been suppressed by Konoha after the Third War came to a close. Unwilling to come to Konoha's service and distrusted for their part in Stone/Leaf war by both sides, Konoha put heavy restrictions on the clans, only to lift them after the River country was formed but leaving them with nothing, not even their reputation.

Poor. Destitute and forced to do the manual labor to survive, the Kokuen Clan never forgot their history. When he established Ginsen and Anko started to build his security force, he was surprised when he learned just how many members the clan did have. Konoha thought them scattered and broken and they were. But not nearly as decimated as the Fire Country would like to think of them.

Their recruitment was almost laughably easy and he, as Saito Nagi, had secured their services after one of the deals he had made that ended with Tenshu becoming Ginsen Tenshu.

At first he didn't understand why, but Anko caught on to the clues right away.

They wanted their pride back. Pride of the shinobi. Shinobi, even poor ones, looked down on merchants, true. But in the country as poor as the River, he was the closest thing to a true Lord, aside from the Daimyo. He had the backing of the Wind, he practically owned the Tenshu - about the only thing lacking was the title.

Anko, to his surprise, decided to talk with the few scattered leaders.  
They needed loyal shinobi. Being masterless and having no ties to major hidden villages, Anko was stupefied when she learned just how many Kokuen clan members answered the recruitment offers.

According to the Konoha's data network, there shouldn't be even half as many of them. And they sure as hell weren't supposed to hold a good number of borderline chuunin and even some jounin level nins in their ranks.

Konoha laughably called them 'peasant nins'. Anko said that she'd like to have such 'peasants' at her back any day. Sure, they didn't have many fancy jutsu, they didn't have cutting edge tools or the support of a whole village but...

Kokuen shinobi were silent, devious and determined almost beyond reason. Recruiting them was one of the best moves he could have ever made.

Ginsen might have lost a bit of reputation in the Hi no Kuni, but it was negligible comparing to gaining a whole clan of shinobi very eager to prove themselves.

Anko gave them that opportunity. She gave them tools. She gave them jutsu. She gave them training ranges, quarters and equipment.

And it wasn't for free, too. She ran them ragged. Guard duty, scouting missions, spy network... Everything and anything that Ginsen needed done and what needed ninja. There was little rest for the Kokuen Clan.

At first Naruto questioned that approach. The clan was still weakened, after all. But Anko knew exactly what she was doing.

She gave them back their pride as shinobi.

In return, Kokuen gave Ginsen it's undivided loyalty along with its heir, in person of Taki, and two of their best kunoichi to serve their new lord personally.

In any capacity.

And the Kokuen Clan had rather old fashioned view on some things, as he quickly found out. He was a little unnerved when, the first night after she arrived to the Ginsen Tenshu, Taki calmly asked if he wished to have sex with her now or later, and if so when?

It wasn't because she felt he'd demand that of her. Though it was quite natural in her eyes. Quite acceptable as well. After all he was a young man with needs, and she was a pretty young woman whose duty was see to those needs. If she slept with him, that meant she could guard him better.

She respectfully backed off after he told her no. But she still tried until Anko pulled her little stunt with the hairpins. After which she was satisfied that, apparently, a 'proper' kunoichi was seeing to his safety. She started respecting Setsuna on a whole new level, too.

Yes, Taki was very loyal.

'Too loyal, sometimes.' He thought sourly.

"No, Taki. Just thinking." He waved her off. "If you would be so kind, can you tell the twins to ready my bath. And please... tell them to stay away? I appreciate that they want to help me wash but..."

Taki just looked at him oddly.

Naruto almost fell like screaming inside.

The twins, Mai and Ai, were Kokuen kunoichi that came with Taki. They were twin sisters, younger than Taki, both around fifteen years old. Cute. Bubbly. Fun loving. Very beautiful. And damn deadly, if what Taki said was true. After he had seen them train, he was inclined to agree. Nothing quite like the solid blocks of wood being ripped apart with bare hands and lightning fast kicks to drive the point home.

The twins, their insane training regimen aside, had another hobby. One which consisted of trying to help him bathe.

Preferably while naked.

He was sincerely terrified what was going to happen when he hit his puberty. Anko laughing her ass off each time didn't help. Taki, looking at him as if he said he came from the moon, also didn't help.

The twins were part of his security detail. They were supposed to watch him at all times.

And as for naked... See Taki's motivation.

Yes, archaic didn't begin to cover it.

'I wonder if it is acceptable for the CEO of the largest corporation in the country to have a nervous breakdown because he has too loyal employees?' He thought briefly.

"Don't worry." Setsuna... molded into him. "He'll be... watched."

"Ah." Taki nodded seriously. "I see. I shall give the orders that you are not to be disturbed, then." She said with a brief smile. "By your leave, Nagi-sama, Setsuna-sama."

'Yes. Breakdown. Nice, nervous breakdown is in order.' Naruto decided.

He won the bet. He shot the targets. He never regretted winning more in his life.

Setsuna helped him to 'take care' of most suitors, all right.

Sure. She did.

By throwing subtle, and not so subtle hints all around. Like by touching him. Or rubbing into him. Or leaning on him.

Innocently.

Yeah, right.

Still, it worked. Mostly.

There were some REALLY stubborn women willing to get their own slice out of Ginsen pie. Instead of paying through her nose, Anko, aka Setsuna, ended up having a ball. And Saito Nagi, the most successful businessman of the River country, wanted to cry.

'Puberty is gonna be hell.'

---

The seals hissed, letting out the excess chakra in a haze akin to smoke, though not much. Benefits of two years of constant training.

Still, the feeling was... weird.

The sandy blond deepened in color, while becoming spikier. The skin turned slightly darker, the marks on the cheeks 'returning' as the sheets of pressed chakra dissolved, bit by bit, layer by layer.

Saito Nagi closed his eyes, feeling the brief vertigo overtaking his senses, the same one could experience in a rapid freefall. Several inches and years later, Uzumaki Naruto opened his cerulean eyes.

"...I'll never fucking get used to this..." The boy muttered, massaging his stiff neck.

"You've been using it for over two years. Just deal." Anko snorted.

"Not... that." Naruto tapped one of the seals on his chest. "Taking it OFF. Man that's weird..."

Anko blinked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked curiously

"I dunno how to explain that..." The blond frowned. "But... I'm smaller, right? Than 'Saito Nagi' I mean."

The jounin nodded.

"Now this shit works by 'layering semi-solid chakra... thing over me, like that Kage Bunshin of yours, right?"

"It is a dynamic energy pattern solid chakra shadow layer, not a 'thing' but yes." Anko said with a smirk as Naruto glared at her briefly.

"Anyway, from what you said, it was to work like... hell, a cloth? Something thin you just... put on."

"Made to look bigger, yeah. But more or less." Anko muttered frowning. "So what's the problem?"

Naruto looked at the jounin for a moment thoughtfully.

"Ever used it yourself?" He asked finally.

"No." The woman shook her head. "There is no point. This shit falls apart at the barest hint of molded or heavily channeled chakra. It is useless for a ninja. Hell, we sometimes forget we use chakra habitually for stamina. One little slip... poof. Several hours of work and sealing fucking wasted."

Naruto looked at her curiously.

"You never told me that."

"Why do you think I'm using it on you?" Anko smiled dryly. "It is better than henge in some way, since it actually leaves a 'physical' presence and can't be dispelled by outside sources. Well, not unless somebody throws a fucking shitload of concentrated chakra straight at you, but by then losing the disguise would be the least of your worries." She smirked.

"Why the hell would ninja use a jutsu useless for a ninja?" Naruto scratched his chin.

"Because it is not a 'jutsu'." Anko shrugged. "Not in the strict sense. This thing is... well, I have no idea how old it is, but it is fucking ancient. Older than any shinobi village, that's for sure. I doubt there is more than a handful people outside of seal scholars out there who even know what it is."

"My Anko the scholar." Naruto smiled dryly. "Wonders will never cease."

"I had fucking unique education." The woman said darkly.

"Oh yeah, that I can believe." The blond grimaced.

Orochimaru wasn't something they talked about a lot, but after two years and one incident with that fucking juin, Naruto more or less knew what it was all about.

In the end, they only had each other, after all. Secrets shared meant trust. And they were only human.

"So what's so weird about it?"

"When you got it off me the first time it felt like getting a bandage off the wound. Coalesced blood and shit. Or like getting a glue off. Now..." He made a fist slowly. "It's like getting my hair pulled out. Only without the pain."

Anko frowned thoughtfully.

"It shouldn't..." She muttered, tapping the table. "It is your chakra, granted but..." She twirled one of her hair pins. "Shit."

"Is it bad?"

"I dunno." She said reluctantly. "This... shit. Getting hair pulled off, you say?"

Naruto nodded.

"Naruto... when you have Shouken active... how does it feel?"

Naruto blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Does the numbness at the edges get stronger, is there some pain or..." Anko halted, seeing Naruto's incomprehension.

"What numbness?" The blond asked curiously.

Anko stared.

"Are you trying to tell me..." She said slowly. "That you have no counter-feedback numbness from the fact that it is your second-hand chakra being filtered from the storage seal?"

"Anko..." Naruto said sincerely. "I have no fucking idea what you are talking about. But there is no numbness."

"So when you grab something in Shouken you feel it fully. Like normal?" She said flatly. "That's what you're trying to say?"

"Shouldn't I?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"And... you never had any... barrier? Any feeling of grabbing something through cloth or anything like it?" Anko's face was expressionless.

"Uh... at the beginning. For the first week, yeah. But..." He shrugged.

Anko's eyes narrowed.

"Seal it." She barked.

"Hey, you said..."

"Seal. It."

"Anko, if I seal it now, then I won't be able to leave this room until eleven at best. You know how much pow-"

"I'll stay and watch you."

Naruto groaned.

'Now that is going to make waves...'

"Anko..."

"I don't GIVE A FUCK." The jounin hissed. "Seal. IT."

"Aww shit..." Naruto sighed, closing his eyes as he tapped the main activation seal on his chest.

Slowly, with a faintest of hisses the haze enveloped him.

The hair grew longer and straighter. The face matured, filling out, becoming the slender face of a man in his late teens. The six whisker marks vanished, leaving no sign or blemish. The eyes remained largely the same. The body grew a good several centimeters, filling out into a boyishly slender, if nice, frame.

Saito Nagi opened his eyes.

"Happy?" The blond snapped. "Now I will have to wait for the body to rest and the seals to get enough power. Fuck... Couldn't you have waited?" The young man grumbled. "One day a month I turn it off and you have me turn it on again in less than a quarter... Geez. This will mean another five hours of rest. Dammit." He scowled.

"Babe like me spending the night with you until noon?" Anko smirked "It will do wonders for your rep, stud."

Naruto groaned.

"As if it wasn't bad enough already..." he muttered petulantly.

But Anko ignored him, in favor of running a quick diagnostic on the jutsu.

"So, what is it?" Naruto asked curiously.

Sure, he could monkey the seals, doing them from memory after he learned them. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. This piece went here, that there... Only it depended on the person and all. Still, he made seals ON himself. Sometimes on paper. So it meant that simply following a routine should be enough. Should.

"Here, hold this." Anko gave him a small slip of paper.

"What is that supYEEEOWH!" The blond yelped, letting go of the small Raiton seal. Not a tag, since it just delivered a mild shock instead of frying the person alive.

Anko stared at his reddened palm.

"...well shit..." She drawled finally.

"The FUCK you did that for?!" Naruto, still in his Nagi guise, rubbed his stinging palm.

"...Kid... You should have felt, at most, some tingling." Anko said slowly. "The chakra is molded to LOOK and FEEL like flesh, but it ISN'T." She rubbed her temples. "The seal sent a discharge of chakra, elemental but still chakra, in such a small amount it should have been dispersed by high density chakra covering your body easily, letting through maybe ten percent of the charge. Instead it... fuck, it acted like an actual, feeling, living body. Fuck, there is even a fucking FLUSH!" she pointed at Naruto's palm accusingly.

"Uh... is that... a problem?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Oh. No problem." Anko shook her head slowly. "There is no reason to worry at all. You just turned the fuck knows how many hundreds of years of the Shouken technique upside fucking down. Everything is A-okay."

"So... a problem." Naruto scowled. "But..." He halted. "Wait a minute. Your Kage Bunshin feel pain and even bleed and..."

"Kage Bunshin - Shouken is NOT a Kage Bunshin. Layering the Kage Bunshin chakra matrix over a body with it's own source of chakra is impossible." Anko said bluntly. "Why do you think henge is 'just' an illusion, huh? Why not make a version of Shouken that works with chakra being channeled? Because it can't be done. It's that simple. It is either henge, the illusion, or Shouken. And Shouken isn't ACTIVE enough to do something like this, while Henge is just an illusion. It would be like... fuck it would be like making henge actually physical! Just impossible!"

"...but I did."

Anko froze.

"...what did you say?" She looked at him, wide eyed.

"Uh... making henge 'physical'." Naruto elaborated.

"Run that by me again?"

"I made a jutsu... well made is too big, I just took a henge I tried to learn and... uh.. turned into a girl. Naked and stuff." Naruto rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly. Two years ago he didn't understand the implications. Now he did. But two years of exposure to 'Anko hotness' as she called her teasing, as well as noble women trying to seduce Saito Nagi and his Kokuen retainers all but crawling into his bed..."I called it Oiroke no jutsu."

"So?" Anko watched her partner like a hawk.

"After I... kinda shopped in it." He laughed sheepishly. "Not... naked. No. But... They were really polite to a sexy and friendly, girl than to the 'demon brat' you know?" He sighed. "Anyway, when I was... 'in' Oiroke I could... grab stuff. And I FELT stuff. One girl even slapped me for 'trying to pick up her boyfriend' and... she kinda left a mark. Like this one." He pointed at the reddened flesh.

Anko sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Breaking centuries of established seal knowledge... one jutsu at a time..." She muttered with a strangled chuckle.

"...Uh, that's bad?"

"Bad?" Anko sighed. "Naruto, you just informed me you made a fucking breakthrough that should be, according to any and ALL laws of sealing and what we know of chakra, impossible."

"Oh." Naruto frowned thoughtfully, before grinning. "Cool!"

"While I'd heartily fucking AGREE, there is one, small fucking PROBLEM here." The jounin growled.

"What problem?" Naruto shrugged. "So Shouken works even better than we thought. It's good, isn't it?"

"No it fucking ISN'T!" Anko threw her head up. "Listen, you damn retarded numbskull - the jutsu, even if it works, is doing something that we didn't expect. We don't know HOW or WHY it is doing that - though it could be million things, including your furry little problem." She pointed at his stomach. "There is no fucking telling just what are the side effects. And since you MUST keep using it, it, whatever it might be, CAN get worse!"

"...Okay, that's not of the good." The blond admitted. "Can't you...?"

"No way." Anko scowled. "I'm good, but I'm adept at most. What we need is a seal master. One that has plenty of experience in direct link siphon-type seals." She scowled.

Orochimaru, damn his hide, was quite good with those. The juin was partially a direct link siphon-type after all. Though even the old snake admitted that the best specialist in history was probably his erstwhile teammate, Tsunade-hime herself. Which was logical, as direct link seals, linked straight into the chakra system and placed directly on the body without any buffers, were used in medical sealing arts a lot.

'Pity nobody knows where the fuck she is.' Anko thought darkly.

Jiraya was more of a general and summoning seal master than anything. Sarutobi was straight out - not that she'd trust anyone involved with Konoha beside herself.

So that left only one option.

The guy was a screwball, a maniac and a flat out scary motherfucker in ways that had nothing to do with classic ninja intimidation.

But he was also the only person available and could be trusted.

'In the... right circumstances.' Anko winced. 'And it's not like he is... available.'

The purple haired jounin sighed.

She knew that sooner or later it would come to that. After all, she had committed some resources into the matter, even if quietly and under the table.

But it seems that their time had just ran out.

---

Naruto opened his eyes blearily.

Anko had trained him to be awake at once, but that was something he never could quite learn.

He looked out to the window, blinking.

'...too early.'

He closed his eyes drifting off to sleep, only to open them again as he felt the faint knocking.

'...oh dammit.'

"Guuuh... shut up, fuckerrrzzz..."

The blond blinked, looking to the side.

Bereft of her usual cheongsam and some make up, Mitarashi Anko tried to pull the covers over her head tighter.

"Anko."

"Whazzit?"

"People are knocking."

"So just open fer kamizzsake..." She murmured, snuggling into the bed tighter.

"Anko..."

The jounin opened one, slightly blood shot eye glaring at the blond balefully.

"What is it?" She hissed venomously.

Naruto didn't blame her. They spent most of the night talking and experimenting with Shouken, most of the work being done by Anko.

The soft knocking repeated.

Anko snarled, throwing her pillow at the door.

"Shut up!" She growled. "I'm in the middle of something, goddamit! And it is too early for that shit!"

Naruto stared.

"WHAT?!"

"Anko... why are you naked?"

The purple haired jounin blinked, before looking down.

Sure enough the pair of her own perky, and quite nice sized, breasts welcomed her.

She looked under the covers.

"Huh. Imagine that." She muttered. "Remind me to take off the top and the bottom when we go to the beach in Suna next time. Tan lines are a bitch."

Naruto palmed his face. That trip was supposed to be a business negotiation - it ended with a shamed daughter of the local daimyo that tried to seduce him but ended sleeping with one of his nins by mistake and Anko basically swindling the guy out of a small, but quite nice tropical home by the beach.

And topless tanning, but that was beside the point.

"Anko... do I even want to know why you are in my bed naked?"

"What do you expect, for me to sleep in clothes?" She muttered, stretching with a yawn.

"Considering it is MY bed?" Naruto said through the gritted teeth. "YES!"

"Chill. Stress kills, Nagi-sama." She said reaching for a silk robe absently as she slipped from under the covers with a yawn.

"Then I will die very fucking young thanks to you." Naruto deadpanned.

"Redo the seal." Anko checked her 'Setsuna' guise - which was more or less her 24/7 look when in Ginsen so there was no real need. The devil was, however, in the details. She had learned that a long time ago.

Naruto tapped his seals, the childish visage slowly melting into the Saito Nagi one he had walked around in for most of the past two years.

It was so common for him now that when he was 'out' of it it felt just... weird. And uncomfortable.

Anko looked at him for a few seconds critically, before pursing her lips and taking a few steps.

Naruto blinked as she messed up his hair.

"What are you...?" He muttered, only to almost choke as Anko casually rubbed her body on his.

"...the HELL you...!"

"Full night and morning of sex. Smell. Look." She looked at the bed for a second, before sprinkling some water and perfume.

"...smell of sex can't be replicated that easily but..." She muttered, grabbing and lighting the incense, and using a quick Katon to melt a candle and opening the door slightly.

She used a quick Fuuton jutsu to blow an arctic breeze over the room.

Naruto shivered.

"Hmm... Little weak, but..." Anko nodded to herself, before her face took on lazy, sleepy look, with a faint irritated look. "Should hold."

'Lying to the world at large even in my own home.' Naruto sighed. 'How pathetic is that?'

"Look irritated."

"I don't need to look." Naruto deadpanned.

"Look more." She sniffed. "You just got interrupted in the middle of morning sex with an awesome babe - look borderline pissed."

"...you're overdoing it." Naruto muttered, schooling his features none the less.

Ever since the time he thought up his first deal, his whole life was basically one big lie - he pretended, lied and cheated every step of the way when it came to his personal life.

Not that it was all that different from his previous life in Konoha. But now the stakes were higher. Failure was not an option.

Naruto sniffed the air, feeling a slightly musky scent.

"...what is that?" He asked, bewildered.

He felt it before, usually when Anko was fighting. It wasn't sweat but...

"Oh wouldn't you like to know." For a moment Anko's shameless smirk flashed through Setsuna's more sophisticated facade. "Be nice to me and I just might tell you one day."

Anko, now fully 'Setsuna' opened the door with an irritated frown.

"What?" She drawled, rising an eyebrow at the kunoichi.

Taki bowed deeply.

"Forgive me for the intrusion, Setsuna-sama, but our network found the data you requested last week."

Anko sighed.

"You could have waited, Taki." She grabbed the folder from the girl's hands.

"I would have looked it over once I came to the office anyway..." She trailed off, her eyes widening slightly, before narrowing as she read through it.

Taki waited patiently. She already knew what was in that report, which was why she interrupted Setsuna and Nagi's private time, even if she preferred not to. Her master was a busy man with a stressing job and every bit of relaxation he could grab was priceless.

She frowned faintly.

'He really should have let me or the twins help him. Stress is no good if it builds up.'

As much as she respected her young master and was grateful to him, his attitude irked her at times. They were here to be made use of - to not use their abilities to the fullest in their duty was... irksome. Not insulting - it was his right, but still...

Men needed a woman's touch to forget the worries - and Nagi-sama had more than enough of them already. She had no idea what frantic need fueled Nagi-sama's ambition, but she recognized power in the making when she saw it. Saito Nagi might not have been a noble (and she had her own suspicions on that) but he would be an extremely powerful man in the future, an equal to any daimyo. That was her belief. And by serving him, Kokuen Clan's fortunes would rise in his long shadow. Finally, after thirty years of disgrace, their clan was getting their pride and dignity as ninja back. Others still ridiculed their clan for serving the 'lowly merchant' but Taki knew differently. River Country had a daimyo - but Ginsen Tenshu had one, single leader. And it wasn't any of the daimyo. Even the self important nobles knew where their newfound wealth was coming through and who held the purse strings.

Two years before, Ginsen rose from out of nowhere. In six months, it was wealthy. In a year it was rich and basically owned a city. Then the city grew into it's current size. And continued to grow, mirroring the influence of the Ginsen Corporation.

Nagi-sama was unlike any other merchant she had met. She was used to greedy little men concerned only with money and trying to buy prestige that would be beyond them. Men ruled by their greed who thought that mere money would earn them several kunoichi 'bodyguards' from the impoverished Kokuen Clan.

But not Nagi-sama. Nagi-sama was like a daimyo. Not the fat ones of the times of peace, but ones her grandmother told her about, the ones from the time of constant raging wars. The sharp eyed, steel willed and ruthless men commanding with iron hand and presence.

She always thought her grandmother, despite her wisdom, was just romanticizing the time of her own youth, like the old generation was prone to. The daimyo she knew of were fat, greedy, weak willed little men made soft by decades of peace.

Then she met Nagi and Ginsen Corporation.

Ginsen, while named 'Corporation', was ran with ruthless, near-military precision she'd expect more from a ninja than a businessman. At first she though it was Setsuna's work. The woman was an impressive and very dangerous kunoichi after all. The longer she studied the Ginsen before her assignment, the more she understood that while Setsuna-sama had a lot of say, there was one hand that held the Silver Fan.

Setsuna was the blade, and occasionally the shield, but Nagi was the one directing it.

Though sometimes, she wondered...

This was not some simple subordinate-master relationship. They were lovers, it was obvious, but there was something really odd there. Some kind of bond she could not catch, some kind of shared purpose that escaped her.

Then, considering the rumors just who those two worked with, or for...

Jin - the shadow that only recently gained a name. The man who pulled the invisible strings. The man who killed his enemies by the score without mercy. He was unseen, unheard and invisible - nobody had ever seen his face.

But Kokuen Clan had a very god information network. The minor daimyo killed and quartered for his meddling. The entire factions of Yakuza wiped out to the last man - obviously angering someone powerful beyond belief considering the sheer amount of force and resources required. Yet no village dispatched their forces - no noble had commissioned the attack.

Only words and shadows. Or a shadow. One that had a name. Jin.

Yakuza used to ran rampant in the River. Used to.

Now they were quiet, if still in plentiful supply. But their business went reorganization, they changed their ways. And suddenly got an influx of money that seemed to come out of nowhere. No new head Clan was chosen, yet Yakuza paid someone. The money went somewhere.

The Kokuen liked to keep an ear to the ground in the River. A few young girls as wives and lovers to the Yakuza and Daimyo alike were priceless source of information. Yet the Yakuza kept silent. Only one word escaping - Jin.

Was he a ninja? Was it a code name for somebody else? A Yakuza overlord, perhaps?

There were almost always rumors of 'kingpins' - the awesomely powerful Yakuza 'lords' that were the 'Oyabuns of oyabuns'. Yakuza always denied such rumors, being fiercely proud of their independence, but...

Her honored grandmother told her once, that the greatest trick devil ever pulled was making people believe he didn't exist.

Some doubted, some said that somebody like that couldn't exist... But then those were the same people that just shook their heads looking at the Ginsen's flat out unnatural rise to prominence.

'Or not so unnatural.' She smiled faintly.

Wasn't it just so convenient that Jin's name became known only when Ginsen started to move openly?

Openly, because she doubted that Nagi-sama didn't plan his steps well before. There were just too many 'coincidences'. One thing she had learned about lucky coincidence was that that it usually wasn't.

Not when it resulted in such astronomical influx monthly after just two years.

Who was Jin? She didn't know. Oh, she had her suspicions, especially with the oddly... cordial treatment between the man whose name appeared only to wipe out his enemies and the young businessman blessed with the 'luck' of gods and ruthless iron will that wouldn't be out of place in a Kage. Also, Setsuna-sama... Really. The deadly, obviously a touch insane kunoichi, yet one loyal beyond reproach. An ideal bodyguard, yes. But also assassin trained in psychological warfare beyond usual jounin skill and far too odd arsenal of skills to be an effect of any usual shinobi training. But one oddly fitting for a right hand of the young Ginsen CEO.

No. Setsuna was no hired help - if anything, Taki believed that the woman was picked for Nagi specifically. Or trained for him. Indeed, the more she observed them, the bond became obvious. The trained bodyguard? The personal tool?

She had no idea, but she knew what she needed to know. Nagi would be even more powerful than he was now. It was just a matter of time. And Kokuen Clan would rise to prominence. Their long history and pride would be vindicated. They would prove that Kokuen was not dead. Ginsen's star was on the rise, and some of that brilliance would be reflected upon the Kokuen clan. For Taki that was more than enough.

That was why she was here. To protect the Silver Fan and hand that held it.

Kokuen lost everything once. The had been given a second chance, more than most could say. They would NOT fail again.

Setsuna's golden eyes darkened.

"Wait here." She said frostily. "Call for the servants to bring the clothes for me."

"Any particular choice, my lady?"

"Dark red dress, the sleeveless one as not to prevent movement."

"Understood. Shall I call for servants...?"

"No. I am enough." Setsuna's eyes hardened. "Call in a security team, Taki. And advise for the rest of the security staff to be on call."

Taki nodded again. She presumed as much.

---

Naruto looked at the folder, his face expressionless, but his whitening knuckles told a different story.

He looked at Anko.

"This ends now." He snarled, finally losing control. "I told those idiots time and time again! And they STILL pull this shit?! How stupid can you be?! This is MY corporation! Not their fucking FIEFDOM!"

Anko stood by calmly as Naruto vented.

It was good they got the data in the room where she could turn on the counter surveillance systems, allowing them to talk freely and Naruto to vent.

As much as the years of presiding over the largest company in the country, even as poor and small one as River, and her own lessons matured Naruto a lot. But he still was an eleven year old boy. With the Saito Nagi guise and his constant acting it was easy to forget, but sometimes the naivety and temper rose it's head.

"How many fucking TIMES do I have to TELL them?! NO. DEALING. WITH. GATO!" Naruto threw the folder on the bed before he ripped it apart. "AT ALL! This stupid fucker has a rep as a fucking business vampire and would-be crime lord - I don't CARE that he has the largest shipping fleet in the region! Time and time again I tell those fucking MORONS that we don't do business with Gato Corporation! And they do THIS?!" A deep growl rose form Naruto's chest that made Anko blink.

'Huh. Kinda wolfish. Nice.'

Naruto glared at Anko.

"I give them some leash and they HANG themselves on it? I don't CARE what it takes, Anko. Find them. Find them, bring them to me! No one fucking walks away from that! This is my company, I make the fucking rules here! Not the band of gutless lackeys calling itself the board of directors. There is only one person calling the shots here, and that's ME!" The blond snarled, looking at the kunoichi. "Find the fuckers. Make the SecOps DRAG those idiots by force if necessary... Wait. No." He smirked. "Call a meeting. A normal one, though mandatory. Use some fucking excuse about budget increase or something - they'll jump on it. And have the SecOps teams on stand by." Naruto gritted his teeth. "Time to put the fear of CEO into those idiots."

Anko looked at Naruto proudly.

'Ah, they grow up so fast...' She sighed happily.

---

The Board meeting was far from an unusual one. Or so they thought at first. Their CEO was an energetic young man prone to calling quick, impromptu sessions that took everybody by surprise.

So when the call came at ten in the morning, no one so much as batted an eye. Indeed, the rumor of the raised funding for some sections and Saito Nagi's personal interest and favor were enough to make them more than pleased.

The conference hall, the one in Nagi's personal section in the core tower, was, as usual, warm and inviting, with simple but tasteful wooden furniture filling the otherwise spartan room.

The only decoration was the large silver fan symbol on the conference table. Though many would call the breathtaking view from the largest building in the Ginsen Tenshu another one.

Still, that was something they were used to.

Their young, usually friendly CEO, on the other hand, staring out of the window and simply ignoring their presence utterly, they were not.

After ten minutes, the Board started to fidget slightly. After another ten, faint whispers started. Whispers that were cut like a knife when the golden eyes of their CEO's attractive, but terrifying bodyguard rested on the gathering impassively.

In the bygone days, some of the men by the table tried wooing the attractive, dusky skinned woman. Gifts, compliments, outright boasting and offers of marriage.

Those ceased with the slit throat of an assassin sent after Saito by a disgruntled rival.

Then that nailing with those hair pins of hers...

How Saito could just take the woman to his bed baffled all. There were all the kinds of wild rumors floating about the pair's private lives, some of them even suggested they were actually married.

Still, all thoughts of rumors died the moment their young CEO turned away from the window to look at the table and the gathered executives.

He looked at them for a long moment, before slowly, unhurriedly sitting in his usual place, Setsuna hovering by his side like a golden eyed shadow.

"Do you know why you are here?" The blond said finally.

The executives looked at each other unsurely, before Kubota coughed, nodding to his boss.

"We heard that there was some talk about an increase in budg-"

"No." The young CEO's voice cut Kubota's words. "You are here because I called you here." Naruto leaned back in his chair, steepling his hands before his face, elbows on the arm rests.

"Sir, is there any point to t-" Kubota started in confusion.

"Kubota."

"Yes sir?"

"I don't remember allowing you to speak." Naruto said pleasantly.

"Sir?" The exec blinked. "I don't underst-"

"Kubota." Naruto's looked at the exec. "If you are too dense, I'll use small words. Shut up. Now."

The exec's mouth opened.

Nagi raised an eyebrow faintly.

Kuboto closed his mouth.

"Imamura, maybe you have something to add?" Naruto looked at the stern looking, powerfully built exec in his forties. "Or maybe you, Momoko? Something? Anything?" He asked a thirty-something regal looking brown haired woman in a tasteful kimono

"Nagi-sama?" Momoko blinked. "But I have nothing to-"

"You don't?" Naruto's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Really? What a surprise. And here I thought you'd follow Kubota and do something I told you NOT to do."

Both Imamura and Momoko stiffened slightly.

"Because, well... You managed to do it before. Why not now?" Naruto's eyes hardened. "I thought I made myself clear on the matter. We don't trade with Gato Corporation. We don't make deals with Gato Corporation. We don't hire Gato Corporation to transport our goods. We are not, under ANY circumstances, to be associated with Gato Corporation or its subsidiaries. At. All. I made it explicitly clear a number of times." He looked at the execs over his steepled hands. "And the moment I turn my back, the very moment I give you a little more freedom I find such a deal somehow being negotiated by not one, but TWO of my executives. Acting in concert, no less."

"Nagi-sama, we are not dealing directly with Gato, those ships are registered for Yamazuki Shipping C-"

"Gato owns those ships. We both know that. Everybody in the business knows that." Naruto looked at his exec coldly. "Do you take me for a fool, Imamura?"

"No, Nagi-sama." The older man didn't bat an eyelash. "But the matter is that officially Gato has little to do with Yamazuki and, as much as your distaste for Gato and his ilk, the fastest way to transport our goods in the region - not to mention the cheapest - is by sea. We are not associated openly, but we still cut the costs and turn out profit greater by-"

"Imamura, What part of 'We don't make deals with Gato' have you trouble with understanding?" Naruto said softly, leaning back in his chair, looking at his two executives.

"I could tell you that we don't deal with Gato because he overcharges beyond reason and starves a whole nation. I could tell you we don't make deals with Gato because association with him would cost us some good will with other nations sympathetic to Wave's plight. I could tell you we don't make deals with Gato because he drains the very life blood out of a country that could be a rich trading hub and a trading asset bringing tens of millions had he some imagination and willingness to shell out some coin instead of bleeding them dry at every turn. I could tell you we don't deal with Gato because he is notorious for hiring the most wanted traitors, war criminals and nukenin that mere association with would cool certain attitudes among out trading partners considerably. I could, but I won't." Naruto's eyes narrowed. "We don't make deals with Gato because I told you so. And that should be enough for you."

"Nagi-sama, please be reasonable. The deals nets us considerable prof-"" Momoko said placatingly.

"You are obviously deaf as well as stupid." Naruto said coldly. "I told you not to deal with Gato. I told you at multiple occasions. Yet you went behind my back, you used my connections, you used my partners, used my company and my resources. All that without my knowledge." The blue eyes narrowed. "And to add the insult to injury you took nice, well padded checks using MY resources and the cuts you made to get them. You have STOLEN from me."

Imamura and Momoko paled slightly.

"Nagi-sama we planned on-"

"You betrayed the trust placed in you. You betrayed the Ginsen. You betrayed me personally. You have stolen from me and tarnished my reputation. Consider your employment with Ginsen terminated."

Imamura and Momoko paled as they heard a tell-tale hiss of shunshin as six masked, steel-grey armored figures of Ginsen Security Operatives appeared by the two executives, three by each.

"Take them away. Find out how much they have stolen and what they know." Anko said to the SecOps officer. "I don't much care how."

"As you wish, Setsuna-sama."

Momoko's face grew ashen.

"...you... you can't do that." She licked her lips, her eyes darting around. "This... this is ridiculous! There are laws you can't just... hold us! You can't... there are laws...!"

"Momoko-san, this is Ginsen Tenshu. Nagi-sama's word is the law." Anko smiled coldly. "Take that trash away, captain."

The SecOps bowed, before vanishing with their two captives.

There was a long period of silence as Naruto unflinchingly looked at the remaining board of directors.

"Let me make something clear, ladies and gentlemen." Naruto said, finally breaking the heavy silence. "You work for Ginsen. You work for me. You might give me advice. I might or might not follow it. But when I tell you to do something, you do it."

Anko sat on the armrest, twirling her hair pin lazily in her nimble fingers.

"I trust there will be no other interruptions?" The blond said pleasantly.

---

TBC...

---

Glossary:

Shouken: lit. 'pure silk'

Kyuushin: lit. 'urgent message' but also 'sudden rise' when reffered to things like stock prices.

AN: For those who had to see Naruto learning to fight. No, he won't be fighting or killing ninja any time soon. He has people for that - mainly Anko. But some deal of self defence ability is always nice. He has plenty of enemies.

About ruthlessness: Anko, business and people trying to press/kill/intimdate to get their way hammered the lesson home. Don't expect him to be a nice guy when it comes to his profits. He lost everything once, he'll never let it happen again.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks go to Griever, MageOhki, Cornuthaum, Vasey, Skelethin and the people on TFF. You know who you all are.

Edited by Skelethin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The Art of the Deal

Chapter 4

* * *

"The parade of illusions."

* * *

"The operation in the eastern sector was a success, however there are some stragglers, my lady."

Anko frowned, tapping the folder thoughtfully.

"Do they have any support, Kobayashi?" She asked finally.

"Outwardly it does not look so, however..." The SecOps captain hesitated. "there are some... worrisome signs that might point to that, Setsuna-sama."

Anko raised an eyebrow.

"Their training cannot compare to a ninja but... there is a lot of them. Far too many for a simple bandit group. Also, their weaponry and equipment look a little too good for an ordinary ragtag bandit lot." The man looked at his subordinates briefly, who nodded. "They are organized. Not well, but..."

"Mercenaries." Anko frowned thoughtfully. "I want you to monitor them closely, cut them down a little if they get out of hand, but that's not a priority. Find who is paying them, Kobayashi."

The captain nodded.

"Shall I eliminate the source as well?"

"No. Your mission is to find them. Quietly." The golden eyes gazed at the officer. "No unnecessary noise, Kobayashi. Gather the intelligence covertly and without alerting them to our presence. Do not fail me, captain."

"As you wish, my lady."

"I will take care of the rest." The golden eyes narrowed. "It seems that the last lesson was not enough. This transgression will not be tolerated. Whoever is sending those idiots will pay."

Kobayashi bowed, followed by his subordinates.

Sending the SecOps teams would be a quick and efficient way of dealing with a problem and many would do so. But Kobayashi knew that Setsuna-sama was not 'everybody'.

After all, SecOps shinobi would just kill the targets.

Whoever was foolish enough to meddle in Ginsen's business would soon learn a very harsh lesson, of that the Kokuen jounin was very sure.

"Anything else?" Anko got up, two young kunoichi in the unassuming office dresses quietly gathering the folders on her desk.

"No, Setsuna-sama."

The golden eyed kunoichi nodded.

"Keep me posted on the situation. Also..." she tapped her cheek. "Asuka." One of the kunoichi, a nice blonde haired girl looked at her mistress.

"Yes, Setsuna-sama?"

"There is a small matter I want you to take care of. One of the borderland nobles, Takemistsu Chomei, has a daughter. Her name is Kumiko, I believe."

Asuka nodded.

She remembered the girl, she had been on the last festival in the River Country capital that Asuka had been to as Setsuna-sama's attendant.

"She had been boasting of the... favor she believes she has gained in Nagi-sama's eyes." The golden eyes rested on Asuka. "Indeed, she seems to harbor some quaint delusions. I want you to pay her a little visit and remind her that it is not nice for a young lady of her breeding to lie. Especially when that lie involves Nagi-sama." Anko cocked an eyebrow. "Don't you agree, Asuka?"

"Indeed, Setsuna-sama." The blonde said coolly. "I shall endeavor to impart that simple truth to her."

"Good." Anko nodded with satisfaction, turning to the exit, before stopping. "Asuka?"

The kunoichi looked at her lady.

"Kumiko is quite a beauty, isn't she? The long, black hair, pale skin... Yes. Very nice."

Asuka nodded.

"She is one of the prettiest women in River Country, Setsuna-sama." She said neutrally.

"It would be such a shame to let this beauty go to waste... don't you think, Asuka-chan?" Anko tapped her hip with a fan thoughtfully.

"Indeed, Setsua-sama."

"Good girl." Anko smirked. "Carry on, carry on."

"I live to serve, Setsuna-sama." Asuka covered her small smirk with a bow.

* * *

"Greetings, Setsuna-sama." The security guards bowed, letting her through.

"Morning Sanji. Takeshi."

Anko nodded, noticing how the two shinobi straightened a little more with satisfaction.

Learning the names of all of the SecOps and ordinary security staff usually in the Tower was a bitch, but well worth it. Such a small thing, but calling a man by his name made them feel more valued. Noticed. A small cog in the large machine, but one that mattered. It went a long way, as she found quickly. Who knew how her life would have gone if she had such encouragment back then?

She nodded to the staff, passing through, receiving greetings and responding to them with a small smile, a wave of a fan or a simple nod.

Sure, she could play the aloof bitch. She sometimes did. She played the crazy bitch... well, not that she needed to play all that much, really. She kept fear. She kept intimidation. But these were her subordinates. A small word here. An encouragement there... Small things.

Small things that built up to the bigger things.

'The devil is in the details.' She thought walking through her tower with an inward smirk.

_Her_ tower.

'Heh. Possessive, possessive, Anko-chan. Oh yes.'

But then it _was_ her tower. Hers and Naruto's. The brat made it clear - Ginsen was not just his - it was Anko's as well. Or should it be Setsuna's?

'Bah. Deep cover can be so fucking confusing at times.' She smirked. 'But then, it is so damn amusing.'

Ginsen made money. Ginsen made a lot of money and kept making even more with each passing month. But that, as nice as it was, was minor. Most people might think that playing a bodyguard to merchant would be boring, but then most people weren't Mitarashi Anko, and Ginsen was no simple trading company. Not with Anko there to help in leading it.

'Me helping to lead a major corporation. Shit, Kurenai would have a heart attack.' Anko smirked inwardly as she walked through the corridors. 'That, or laugh herself stupid. The noisy little Anko-chan deciding the fate of a country. And here Konoha never even gave me a chance to lead some third rate troops.' She scoffed.

Truth to be told, she surprised herself. She knew she was better than what most people thought - Orochimaru's lessons, damn him, weren't wasted on her. Rusty and in slow decline, but the very moment things started to pick up with the whole business thing, Anko suddenly had a use for those half-forgotten bits and pieces. And she not only used to them to simply survive - she thrived.

Sure, she didn't take care of some of the more boring aspects of the administration, but she helped. No matter how bright Naruto was, the first year was thirty percent brains, twenty percent bluff and fifty percent sheer guts and audacity.

Now, after almost three years in the business, she doubted Naruto even realized just how brilliant move he had made setting up in River. In any other major country, the competition would eat him alive in the beginning and some of the things they pulled would never fly. Here, they were free to secure their power base without too much trouble. It was a hole, after all, and since Suna and Konoha had such a close alliance treaty, its position as a buffer country was of little importance. The lack of any real value made both countries dismissive towards the poor little hind end of nowhere. No ninja, no political power, no money.

And no noisy hidden villages, no large rival companies, no powerful nobles.

Despite its image, Anko knew very well that Ginsen's rise to power came not only from the unique goods, fair prices and their trading with Wind. Money gave all sorts of power, especially in a poor and corrupted country where only fishes didn't take. Despite playing the sexy bodyguard, she didn't complain about the lack of work then or now. Naruto was inches from backing out when Anko told him of the first assassination, but it was done and she played it straight with him. Their competitors, the uppity nobles and the yaks among them, didn't play nice - they couldn't afford to either. Fortunately, Anko was an excellent assassin and this or that greedy merchant already tried to kill Saito Nagi by then.

The kid was tough, she had to give him that. Though how much of that was his own nature and how much her own little lessons and the cutthroat nature of the whole game... Because it was a game and Anko hated losing, as did Naruto.

She nodded to Yuna and Maho, the second pair of her kunoichi secretaries (not that all that many people knew them to be kunoichi in the first place), taking the folders from their hands.

The women bowed, walking away as Anko passed the seemingly unguarded doors.

She knew it was false, of course. A team of SecOps elites was stationed on the top floor at all times, not to mention that every person in the staff of the home wing was a shinobi. Taki wouldn't allow any civilians without a security clearance working around her lord.

Anko smirked.

Incidentally, almost all of the Kokuen shinobi staffed there were kunoichi, none older than thirty, if all good at their jobs. In her own way, Anko knew that it was the majordomo expressing her disapproval of Nagi's 'stressed' life without any chance to relax.

'Now, should I call her a mother hen or a kunoichi pimp?' Anko chuckled under her breath.

She swept her hand over the small seal over the door to Naruto's private room.

It was a nice little thing, her own creation and one of the more advanced seals in her arsenal - one of the few she didn't learn how to make from Orochimaru. It was, in essence, a lock. When Naruto had it engaged, like now, nothing short of a high level jutsu or completely shattering the door would open it. Unless one had a chakra pattern that was programmed into the seal.

She didn't bother knocking as she entered Naruto's secondary office. Contrary to his moloch of a room he had for official occasions, this one was more modest and far more cluttered. The desk was positively huge and usually strewn with papers, like now.

Anko raised an eyebrow at the piles of books, scrolls, sealing tags - some even working - maps and other bits and pieces of the mess.

"Busy, aren't you?" she smirked, sweeping some papers to the side and sitting on the desk. Naruto was sitting in his large, comfortable chair staring at a large map. It was a representation of the whole region, as well as several countries around it, all covered in pins, hand-added notes and signs in Naruto's scrawl as well as countless arrows, lines and other such marks in various shades of ink.

Naruto, in his Nagi guise, was staring at it without blinking or moving a muscle, only his breathing indicating that he was still alive.

Anko had seen this map before, though never in such a state of disarray. She had an almost identical one in her own office, frequently updated with intelligence reports from their spies.

The most of the symbols she recognized, through some she had no idea of. Especially the question marks over some countries and cities, particularly the ones in Rock, Cloud and, oddly enough, Konoha.

Wind also had some odd cross-like signs with letters and numbers that she only after some time recognized as the income they had from their ventures in them.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

Naruto kept staring at the map, before cursing and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I don't see it. I know it's there but I can't see it." He muttered. "What the hell is wrong with this picture? I know I know I KNOW but..." he slammed his forehead on the desk. "DAMMIT! Where the HELL is it?!"

Anko blinked.

"And you've got mental... when?" She asked finally before frowning and grabbing Naruto's face.

Even in his Nagi guise, the paleness was visible (Anko found that Naruto's odd influence on Shouken made it follow the pattern of his own skin and body perfectly) and his blue eyes were almost completely bloodshot.

She threw a look at his rumpled clothes and a large number of empty coffee cups and the stack of energy bars.

"When was the last time you had any sleep?" She asked suspiciously.

Naruto blinked owlishly.

"What day is it?" He asked finally.

"Thursday. Eleven in the morning."

Naruto frowned.

"Thursday... hmm... I had some sleep on... Tuesday. I think." The blond nodded. "Yeah. I remember I fell asleep for a bit. Bloody annoying, that." He scowled. "Threw me off my rhythm. Remind me to hire some guys who can make better coffee. This shit can't keep me awake enough."

Anko looked into one of the fuller cups, noticing the almost solid state of the sludge in there, despite still being warm.

"Yeah. Riiiiight." She scowled. "You want to kill yourself or something?"

"Or something." Naruto muttered, rubbing his temples.

"What have you done to that map anyway?" Anko asked. "Geeez... it has more colors than the rainbow now. I can barely make it out. What is all that for?"

"I've been trying to find something." Naruto sighed, leaning back in his chair. "But I can't. Dammit."

Anko raised an eyebrow.

"A friend of mine... remember the guy I told you about?"

Anko nodded. Naruto told her of the lessons give to him by that odd stranger.

"Well, before he left he told me something. 'Follow the money.'" He grimaced. "I didn't get it then, I thought he said that about working for cash, but now I understand what he wanted to teach me. All that stuff... countries, companies, people... even noble families, have cash flowing. It goes from one place to another, making waves. Making connections. I'm trying to find them."

Anko looked at the map with a frown for a moment, before turning back to Naruto.

"It's not only money, you know. Military, status, politics..." she pointed out.

"Which _all_ involves money somehow." Naruto rolled his eyes.

Anko shrugged.

"Don't our spies give you enough data?"

"Yeah, but it's not about that." Naruto sighed. "It hit me when I started to compare some reports about our smaller operations, those outside of River." He rubbed his chin. "I can't name it, I can't call it, can't grasp it but... there is something there that doesn't fit. It's like..." Naruto deflated. "Eh. I'll get it somehow. Some way. But another thing..." He pointed at the large red points. "is this."

"Wave... and Tea Count-... Ah. The Omora Clan." She nodded.

"Wave is not just Wave, but Gato." Naruto sighed, rubbing his temples. "Gato is a given. That bastard is none too pleased by our constant refusals and the lost business. The Omora family, now they are pain in the ass as you well know. They've been blocking us like idiots. They could profit from it, but they would sooner die than see an 'upstart' there, goddamn cowardly hardliners."

"We can't use any type of pressure." Anko muttered. "The Tea Country has numerous treaties with Fire and the Omora Clan is damn powerful, they won't budge. Can't we bribe them with something?"

"They'd take the money and backstab us at the earliest opportunity." Naruto snorted. "No. The Omora family has to go somehow."

"We can't afford an hostily war with them. Or a covert one." Anko grimaced. "They are rich, nobility... Ginsen's grasp is _here_, in the River - so far, we aren't quite up to the snuff anywhere else, save maybe Wind."

"I KNOW." Naruto growled, grinding his teeth. "I just can't believe they... ARRGHH!"

"Calm, brat." Anko tapped his forehead. "We are getting more power and money by the day, but it will take time. Years. This isn't some poor, corrupt backwards end of nowhere, like this place."

"Yeah, yeah... so you say. Dammit." Naruto tubbed his temples. "Why does it all have to be so damn complicated...?"

"Things are starting to thicken." The kunoichi shrugged. "So far, we had mostly smooth sailing, because we had the money when people here had not. It's been easy so far. Now the trouble is going to really start."

"I get it, I get it!" The blond thew his hands up in exasperation.

"By the way..." The woman frowned. "You need to stop looking out the borders so much. We still have enough problems here."

"Chomei?" Naruto snorted. "Yes, I heard. Bastard. He gets fat on _my_ money and he starts to get uppity. Son of a bitch...!" The blond grumbled moodily.

"Chomei is just the tip of the iceberg." Anko warned. "The nobles are starting to get used to Ginsen and familiarity breeds contempt."

Naruto blinked.

"They get used to the money, used to the luxury. And now they want power." The kunoichi explained with a sigh. "So far, they just prod, but..."

Naruto groaned.

"...oh shit... again? What are they, stupid?" He slammed his head on the desk. "Didn't we have it once with the yaks?"

"This is far more dangerous, Naruto. You keep on neglecting them - you can't. They can't either. It is all the matter of face, of power and such stuff. They won't let go."

"I get it." The blond murmured tiredly. "Bastards! Why can't they give me a fucking BREATHER once in a while?! It is ALWAYS something!"

"You made Ginsen an integral part of the local economy, brazenly pushed money where there was none, all but threw your power around and you expect them to just smile and nod?" Anko tapped his head again. "Get real. You are a merchant with more money and power than them and they _know_ it. Worse - everybody else knows it too."

"That was YOUR idea." He glared. "You told me it would shut them up!"

"For a time, yeah." Anko nodded. "But you just left it alone after that. That's not the way. They need to get their show, and need to _be_ shown. Or they will start to scheme."

"They'll do it regardless!" Naruto snarled. "I'm _not_ stupid, you know!"

"No. But you're young, and you have no idea how this all goes together. Not yet." Anko said brutally. "Get a grip, Naruto. You can't just get a bright idea and fly with it, for god's sake. It was good when we started, when all we needed was to swindle the deal and close the mouths with some cash. Now this thing is BIG, and we don't just trade. We have ninja, we have employees, we have a city to look after - those are the obvious signs of power. All in one. Single. Hand. Yours."

She sat on the desk, crossing her legs comfortably and propping her elbow on one of the stacks of papers - some intelligence reports, from what she saw.

"And they don't know you. You don't go out there, you don't mingle, you don't show off like any normal trader who makes money does. Like you're too good for them, like you're plotting something. They are afraid, curious and greedy. A bad combination."

"I can't. Dammit, you know that." Naruto rubbed his forehead with frustration. "I can't, I don't-"

"Yes, you do." The kunoichi said calmly. "You have to. So far, you have dealt with them at arm's length, and that's making them afraid. Good for some kind of a warlord, but you ain't. You're a businessman. You must make connections, to make your presence known or soon this place will be rife with corruption, scheming and we'll have trouble on our head that will set us back years."

Naruto glared.

"I hate you." He said petulantly.

"Aww, you know you love me, brat." She patted his head with a grin.

"So... mingle. Dammit." He leaned back in his chair.

He didn't want to. For him, the ideal solution was to just make money, get his company to be richer and stay out of that pit of vipers. That's why he had chosen Ginsen Tenshu. Later... maybe. Not now. If he was discovered, if he slipped up if he-

"You can't avoid it forever. The time to act is _now_." Anko said forcefully. "If we don't do something now, they will start to doubt. More, they will start to get greedier and power hungry - far more than usual. You saw that the last time, during the negotiations, didn't you? They are getting bolder. They need to buy the illusion that it all goes as they want to - even if they know who holds the purse strings. The face is important for these noble fucks, and you've been basically insulting them, the entire court and the local daimyo by acting how you did until now. We're getting too big just to be ignored and passed over, not anymore. Not when we have relations with Sunagakure, not when we have our own security force that basically tells the magistrates to fuck off and stay out, even if politely."

"Not like they know we have a clan worth of ninja." Muttered Naruto. "Though that would freak them out."

"Yeah. However, one or two nins as security they can swallow. A contingent of them, all armed and armored in a way that looks disturbingly like ANBU, even if they aren't all that visible?" Anko rolled her eyes. "Wake up, brat. No one's that naive."

"We needed them, you said so yourself!"

"Yes, because it keeps others from fucking with us - trust me, there'd be far more trouble from our competitors, nobles, and yaks and all kinds of trash if we didn't. But we must take the good with the bad. You've been ignoring that, and now it's time to stop."

The blond pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Damn... it is all so complicated." He muttered.

"I know." Anko nodded, not a small amount of pity in her eyes. "But you started this, we must pull it together and start thinking bigger, or we can pack the bags and go home."

"Home?" Naruto gave her a wry smile. "Where is that?"

Anko blinked, before frowning thoughtfully.

"Here I am, and here I will stand." Naruto's eyes narrowed. "If they don't like that, well too fucking bad! I'll go forward if they want to or not!"

The kunoichi chuckled, jumping off the desk in a gracefully sinuous move that always left him amazed that the woman - no, that a human - could move like that. Like a snake - sinuous, rapid and oh so fluid...

"Well now, seems like the brat is all fired up!" She gave him that familiar cocky grin, before bowing mockingly. "Your orders, my master?"

"Cut that shit out." Naruto said with embarrassment.

"Ooh, is the great Nagi-Sama troubled by the presence of his servant?" She smirked. "Am I giving my most honorable master a... hard time?"

"...fuck you." Naruto grumbled, looking away. She _still_ managed to get to him, after all those years. Damnable woman.

"In your dreams. Every night." She cackled.

"In yours rather, you shotacon." He said flatly.

"Oooh. Testy, testy." She tsked. "Growing claws now? Maybe growing some balls, too, hmm?"

"I can't win, can I?" Naruto sighed.

"Nope. No way, no how brat." She said gleefully, before unsealing a small scroll. "By the way." She put it on the desk.

"Huh?" The blond peered at it. "Looks kinda official but not ours. So what can it-" He paused his reading, before scowling. "Oh HELL no!"

"Remember what I told you. The face and the appearance." She tapped the scroll. "This is ideal."

"This thing is a PARTY!" He glared at her. "Do you have _any_ idea how many nobles with unattached daughters, cousins, noble-born jihi or even young widows will be there?"

"So?" She shrugged. "You've endured before."

"One at a time, yeah. This will be like... like...!" Naruto shuddered. "An assault, or something!"

"I'd be more worried about the other guests. Some of them did try to assassinate you before and some really don't like us all that much." She smiled cheerfully. "And those at least we know. Sycophants, businessmen wishing to curry favors, nobles with their agendas..."

"Please." Naruto groaned, slumping. "Just kill me now."

"No can do." Anko patted him. "Life's a bitch."

"Yeah, sort of like you." Naruto said darkly.

Anko only smirked, walking out with a cheerful wave.

"She doesn't need to look so damn smug about it." The blond complained to the empty room. "Bitch." He muttered petulantly, grabbing one of the folders.

The stress wasn't going to kill him, the sleepless nights weren't going to harm him - hell, the assassins weren't going to so much as nick him. No. What would eventually kill him would be the paperwork, He just knew it. One day, his servants would find him chocked ro death by the ever-growing mountain of paperwork, each sheet bearing the nice and neat silver fan seal.

With a tired sigh, the blond leaned over the papers yet again, only to stop half way.

"I'm not taking you." He said, glaring accusingly at the scroll. "No matter what she thinks. You are trouble!"

The scroll laid there, the faint gold engravings on the edges, extravagant and far from tasteful. Oh, for some it would be tasteful enough, but he knew well they weren't. In their own way, they were gaudy. Loud, rich, the sort of 'look at me - I have the money!' in your face gaudy. Not something a nobleman, no matter the rank, would send.

But one of the merchant lords, those rich, common men who used every opportunity to flex their financial muscles and buy what they didn't have from birth... oh yes. He didn't understand before. When the life was simpler and gold was gold, cool was cool and a scroll was just a scroll. But now he had to. Over the years of Ginsen's existence, he had learned, or was taught rather. Anko spent almost all her time around him - teaching, mocking, helping and infuriating him. All to push and prod him to action.

He wasn't stupid - after all those negotiations, those smiling men and women who'd like nothing more than to bleed him dry and play him for a fool, he had learned to be as much of a shark as they were. Sure, he lacked experience, but he had Anko, the money and the absolute refusal to back down even an inch. It cost him at times, but in a place like River, it helped. His word was his bond - Ginsen's bond. It was respected, it meant something. Like that time he made that deal with the minor daimyo in Wind - he had sworn the cargo would be by in two months and he had kept his word. Regardless of the conditions that made him lose half of the invested money and, basically, had none of the expected gain and plenty of loss.

But he had given his word, dammit - he wouldn't break it for anyone. And without his goods, the drought would be far more costly than it was - people died in droves as it were. Potatoes, stored in the newly built silos, saved the day once again. Honestly - without them and the soy 'meat', Ginsen would have crumbled several times over. They netted the huge initial gains and allowed for a rapid expansion. Still...

Naruto grimaced, leaning on his chair and staring at the ceiling.

The last few years were profitable. Fun, even. He let the wheel turn, introducing idea after idea, some thanks to that obsolete, yellow paged cookbook he had Anko nick from the Konoha library. Potatoes led to vodka - it was surprising how well alcohol that was not sake sold in some places, especially considering how cheap it was. Vodka was becoming a staple at the parties in Suna, a 'man's drink' as it was referred to.

Hell, the traders from Rock, usually steadfastly opposed to anything of Suna origins, had apparently managed to sneak some bottles over the border and it had been slowly gaining recognition there ever since. Mixers and cocktails were Anko's idea - the sort of companion to the stark, dry vodka that was as harsh as it was powerful. The juices, exotic spices and careful addition of vodka - it was a surprising success.

Softer, offering the variations of taste - like the most of the more luxurious commodities, it sold exceedingly well in Wind, and it was a favorite among both the noblewomen and geisha alike. He could thank the Kokuen Clan for that - it was apparently their choice and a nod towards Ginsen, made in their own, odd way. He was surprised just how much of the houses had courtesans and geisha - some even Tayuu! - that had undeniably both Kokuen and Kunoichi roots.

River was a hotbed for the, undeniably minor, activity of the dispossessed clans. Anko alternated between cackling like a madwoman and jumping around like a little girl in a candy store when she finally grasped the scope and numbers she could crunch regarding the masterless peasant nins that survived day-to-day in the bitter reality dominated by the ninja villages. Oh, it was no army - their numbers were relatively small, they often lacked the modern training, yes. However, those were still shinobi and for a growing company that desperately needed all the power it could grab they were an ideal resource, if one has the money to use it and enough goodwill with them. He knew that she was scheming something to swindle a larger budget - what for, he had no idea. But so far, they lacked the funds for it. So far.

He scowled, glaring at the papers.

As miraculous as the Ginsen's rise was, Anko was right. He wanted too much, too fast. River was River - it was poor, and once the money from Wind started pouring in, they came pouring through one channel - Ginsen. He wasn't so naive - things he did wouldn't fly nearly so well in other countries. Gato already was a problem, and so far it was just in regards to shipments. As loathe as he was to admit it, Anko was once again spot on - it was too early to expand so far. The Omora Clan was an example - they burned him once already. If he tried to do it again, the consequences would be... well, not something he wanted to think about.

Oh he had the money, yes. But so far, he was just one of many, and he needed more if he wanted to play on that level.

The fact those damn stupid idiots of most noble and ancient poorhouses tried to swindle whatever scraps they could from him certainly wasn't helping. The fact that there was power that could go above money, or rather... sideways to it, wasn't helping at all. Damn politics.

"Yes, that's you. You just sit there, you hear me?" He muttered, pointing at the scroll accusingly.

Still, as much as he didn't want to... So far he was just an anonymous face, the guy who kept on making money, kami knows where from and kami knows what for. Sure, people around here knew him well enough. Well, as well enough as they could, which wasn't really much... Okay, save for the tower, they knew jack shit.

"...dammit."

He knew what Anko was trying to say - she didn't spend those last few years hammering the ways to read opponents into his skull for naught. It was just... In the Tower, he had the control. He could plan, he could control the environment and he had Anko if he slipped up. Out there? One slip up, and this whole carefully planned spectacle would turn into a farce that would knock Ginsen down, and him with it.

He and Anko molded Nagi, made him what he was. A commanding, ruthless and smart businessman. Young, somewhat naive and a little prone to flights of fancy - Naruto really didn't want those guys in Ijiru to starve. He'd been hungry once or twice - he couldn't _imagine_ people dying from hunger just because a drought came by and destroyed the already meager crops of that province.

Seeing all those people with their bony, hungry faces, starved children who sat or slept in the shade, their limbs so impossibly thin... It gave him nightmares still. Damn, he'd been to that place before, more than once too. Kamojima-san had been an early trade partner and a friend and Rika was just a six year old little girl! Sure, it cost him. Damn, but it cost him, especially since those blasted bastards of his competitors tried to exploit the naivety of the young CEO. It was the first time in his life he flat out ordered a person killed for business reasons alone. By the time he realized what he had done, they were already dead and Anko was looking at him very oddly for weeks afterwards.

He didn't know what was more scary - her looking at him with that odd, calculating gleam for weeks on end, or that disturbing, gleeful bit he learned to recognize as pride in her eyes. He didn't want to know either.

Still, Nagi - even if a recluse - had an image. Nagi negotiated, Nagi was the source of rumors (the blasted ideas made up by Mitarashi Anko, your local manipulator at large) and was enough of the person to exist in the minds of the people. The reputation was everything, and a certain degree of continuous stability was important as well. Shin explained that to him, way back, in what seemed to be another life. The unpredictability was good, but the solid foundation was important. It kept you grounded in the deals you made so people knew what to expect which in turn cashed in the trust they gave you. This was the cornerstone of Ginsen Corporation.

"...even pranking the ANBU wasn't so complicated..." Naruto groaned, rubbing his temples. The days worth of lack of sleep, the constant concentration and the non-stop work left even his considerable constitution fraying at the edges. The splitting pain in his head wasn't helping it any. And now, on top of that, Anko went on her merry way after throwing him another bone. One made of pure iron and really hard to bite. Which was ironic, since it was only paper and some ink.

"Dammit, I'm starting to go crazy." He muttered, before snorting and snagging the scroll. "I get it, I GET it already!" The blond rolled his eyes, getting up from his comfortable chair.

He could feel the seals on his body humming with power as they passed the 'lock' - a weird, if comfortable feeling of home and familiarity. He honestly couldn't remember how it was to live without the seals over his arms, without the security seals all over and without the often times annoyingly loyal security personnel around at all times.

He twirled the scroll, before snapping his fingers.

'Speak of the devil.'

He didn't bother turning at the slight sound of two pairs of feet touching the ground - a courtesy for him, really. Neither of the twins made any sound moving unless they wanted to.

"Nagi-sama." Ai was slightly paler than her sister, though both had skins darker than what would be expected of the proper ladies. Not that they needed to blend in - those two were war kunoichi, even if they looked like sexpet ditzes with large breasts and clothes two sizes too small. Most men looked at those chests and cute faces first - it usually made them miss the deadly, sinuous grace and the toned bodies holding a surprising amount of power.

They weren't delicate flowers by any means, but undeniably beautiful. Troublesome as well, but that was not the point. He had seen them break seven shinobi in less time it took him to give the order to do so, with bare hands and one or two jutsu. That quickly made him shut up about their... habits. Unlike Anko, who was just plain vicious because she _was_, those two seemed to come with some kind of mental switch. Most of the time they were smiling, cheerful, slightly ditzy young women who made the overly elaborate plans to sneak into his bath, or into his bed - quite literally, at that. Then it was time to fight and poof, the two cheerful ditzes turned into hell on wheels who not only didn't know what mercy was - they probably wouldn't understand if he tried to explain it to them.

It wasn't some simple violence - those two enjoyed breaking those men on a level that would have left him deeply disturbed and flat out freaked out if he didn't get used to Anko well before. As per usual, trying to talk to them about it was met with shrugs, grins and that odd, incomperehensing look from Taki.

He stopped trying months ago - it simply wasn't worth it.

"One of you find Taki and get her to look this through." He threw the scroll in between them, noting with amusement a quick exchange of punches that ended with Mai, smirking and waving the scroll, while Ai pouted. "I want her to check it out." That it was to be done discreetly wasn't even mentioned - he learned not to insult them like that early on.

"Ooh. A party." Ai blinked, looking at him curiously. "Nagi-sama's going?"

"Nagi-sama is." Naruto grimaced, showing what he thought of it.

"Ahh." Mai nodded thoughtfully. "Taki-sama will be happy."

"Irritated, too." The other twin said sagely. "So many guests."

"Not like I can say no." Naruto said darkly.

The twins looked at each other, before giggling.

"Setsuna-sama." They said in unison, an amused glint in their eyes, before they pouted. "So unfair, Nagi-sama! She has one up on us again!"

"Yes, yes. I know." He muttered. He had no idea what that 'one up on us' was, but he was not going to ask. They just might tell him. "Get to it."

"Yes, Nagi-sama!" Mai nodded enthusiastically and knet, before vanishing.

Ai made roughly the same gesture, before being stopped by his wave. She'd be around anyway - they always were. He really doubted they allowed him any privacy save the inner chambers when he was with Anko, even if he didn't see them all the time. They were his personal bodyguards, wherever he wanted them or not with all that it entailed.

"Stay." He said walking through the halls. He had 'I need company anyway' on the tip of his tongue, but he knew better now. They didn't need more encouragement. It was bad as it was.

The young woman nodded cheerfully, her soundless steps positioning her at his back. No matter what he wanted of her, she and her sister always walked in that respectful distance. It was just so bizarre that they had no reservations to break into his bath, or sneak into his room naked to 'warm his bed' as they called it, but he could do nothing to make them walk with him, by his side. Hell, he stopped trying to stop them to kneel each time he gave them orders. While he could order them to die at his whim, changing their ways was something that was apparently impossible.

Kokuen was just so damn old fashioned it wasn't even funny. According to Anko, it was natural - they clung to their traditions since it was what helped them to survive and keep their unity. They were harsh, hard people not made soft by the relative safety of the village, even if their ways would seem utterly barbaric to the ninja of the modern age. 'Throwbacks to the time of Shinobi Wars' Anko had called them. And, to his surprise, she did so with a smile that spelled nothing but trouble. He had no idea what she was thinking about right then, but he honestly preferred not to know. For now, anyway.

* * *

Ai kept on walking after her master, calmly observing the blond while also keeping her eye on the surroundings. It was the Tower, the inner chambers at that - it had more Kokuen ninja than most daimyo would bother with on the worst of days, but they were to guard him regardless. Setsuna-sama said so and Taki-sama agreed. It was not hers to wonder why - but it was hers to be content at the fact that Nagi-sama was protected well, every step of the way. She still didn't let her guard down. Not by much anyway. She was there to eliminate any threat that might rise - that was her duty.

Still, the Tower was nice. It gave her time to think, to ponder. Not something most people would think any of the well endowed twins engaged in - not with their bodies, and their happy smiles. Yet the twins did. They were kunoichi, after all. They could watch, they could think, and they could smile, giggle and wear the skimpy clothes that left men drooling. All the better for them. Distractions within distractions, as granny often said. Never underestimate the power of a generous bosom, tight silks and fishnet.

The years had been hard for Kokuen. While they had the skills to sell their services as mercenaries, the Clan had to live in silence, in the deep shadows. The villages wouldn't let them 'poach' on what they thought was their territory and finding patrons who could afford to shelter them, even a little, was almost impossible. Why care about an old, dispossessed Clan, after all? What for when all you had to do was pay a fee and get a jounin out of one of the established villages, instead of keeping ninja on full retainer?

The nobles did, but never in high numbers. A family, a small number of some nukenin offered the place as retainers - that was it. The entire Clan? Ridiculous. The Wars were long over, no one needed them. Not when they drew the ire of rich and powerful twice over. The times after that had been very hard and they lost much - everything, to be honest, bar their lives.

Ai didn't know much about those times, save the tales of the elders. She was born after the War, lived a life that was little better than a peasant's one in a poor village in the mountains that consisted mostly of Kokuen clansmen. Or clanswomen, as it were. Many men died during the last Shinobi War, where kunoichi fared better. For a bloodline that always bore more daughters than sons, it was a blow that they still couldn't quite recover from. Yet they adapted, did what they had to to survive. The geisha and courtesans were always welcome - a beautiful woman could always get away with more than a man would.

When Ai and Mai were born, they were the bright hopes of their mother, a kunoichi spymistress. Her daughters already showing the signs of their future beauty, the woman started to train them in the art from the moment they could walk, only to meet with a bitter disappointment shortly after the girls hit puberty.

Their mother was a beautiful, porcelain skinned woman with hair like a curtain of raven silk and delicate beauty that snared the noblemen at a glance. While far from soft, she was patient and possessed a gentle manner that made her a sublime manipulator. It was one of the reasons she was undiscovered and kept her life as one of the most desired tayuu of the Wind country even after most of the Clan crashed and burned in the aftermath of the Third War.

The twins though, were everything she was not. They were tall, amazon like women with tempers to match. They excelled at the physical side of the Art, but were hopeless when it came to the softer aspects. Excellent fighters, undoubtedly but... Kokuen didn't have much need for such as those tended to draw attention. Assassins - yes. War shinobi? No. The twins wouldn't cut it as geisha either. While their bodies alone would make them just exotic - even if their curves would be called vulgar by most - they had no skill at the small talk, or the careful grace of the tea ceremony. Theirs was the grace of born killers - they were more suited to breaking men than to entertaining them with careful display of beauty, culture and small talk.

Yes, they had been their mother's greatest disappointment, even if she loved them dearly. They both knew that and it pained them.

The fact that they couldn't even use their skill, earned by years of sweat, effort and tears, made them bitter and restless. They could, of course, simply go and make their living as thugs, or even mercenaries but... leaving their kinsmen? Their clan? The Kokuen lost much, but they never lost their pride and adversity only served to bring them closer over the years.

Then the offer came. The most unusual offer, from a source most would consider ridiculous. A merchant. More, a young, upstart merchant. A young upstart merchant who didn't mistake the pretty face of a kunoichi for a meatshield whore and a spymistress for a prostitute that could work for scraps because she didn't have a choice. A young upstart who wanted the entire clan of ninja at his exclusive retainer by yesterday and didn't care about the costs or the image. He wanted spies, he wanted guards, he wanted infiltrators and warriors.

Warriors like her and her sister. Warriors that suddenly became needed, had a purpose and who were beautiful young women trained once as geisha to make hearts melt and also trained to rip those very same hearts out with their bare hands.

They were ecstatic. They could be useful - for the first time, they were really needed. All of their skill, all of their dedication would pay off. To say they were enthusiastic about their duty would be an understatement. They wouldn't fail, not when there was finally a chance for something better for them all. The fact that CEO was a young and handsome man certainly didn't hurt.

Ai smirked as she recognized the way they were taking, straight through the side corridors into the Nagi-sama's personal sleeping quarters. Which meant he'd be taking a bath in the large, private furo. Setsuna-sama wasn't there and Nagi-sama was certainly looking tired enough to forget to tell her to stay away, so...

Her small smirk widened a fraction.

Maybe losing that little contest to Mai wasn't so bad after all.

"Ai."

She blinked.

"Yes, Nagi-sama?"

"You know the drill." He pointed at her lazily, not even bothering to look to get her exactly location, which wasn't that difficult considering she kept the same place all the time.

"Aww!" The young woman whined. "That is so unfair!" She pouted.

Naruto didn't bother to comment or turn. The puppy dog eyes Ai had down pat as well as any of her taijutsu moves.

* * *

The Kazekage cupped his hand around the bowl gently, letting it rest in his hand loosely, but with grace. He didn't need to look to know that the woman across the table did the very same thing with no apparent strain.

'And far more gracefully than I can manage on my best day, most probably.' He thought wryly.

Not that he begrudged her that - quite the contrary.

While she bore no makeup, jewelry or the lavish kimono of her trade, the serene grace was like a fine cloak, one worn with the years of practice that few could touch, no matter posses. Even a blind civilian would name Hitomi either a geisha, or a noblewoman of the highest rank with but a look. They would not be wrong... though not exactly right either.

Which was how the Suna's spysmistress wanted it.

She loved contradictions, thrived on them - they amused her almost as much as mysteries and secrets she so loved, that he knew well. Of course, that was one of the few things he knew, and was reasonably certain of. The kunoichi was notoriously hard to read, and her penchant for games and entertaining herself at the cost of the patience of others certainly didn't help. If she wasn't so good at what she did, he'd probably execute her just for that infuriating quality.

Execute, and regret it bitterly for the rest of his reign, however long it might be.

No, odd and occasionally annoying she might have been, but Hitomi was far too valuable to even consider removing.

'And she knows it, damn her.' He thought with wry amusement, looking at the faint smile at the woman's face.

It was impossible to tell how old she was, even without the extensive makeup. Her face had that ageless quality that most women envied with passion and men admired, which made her even harder to read.

'Infuriating woman.' The Kazekage sighed inwardly.

Though he had to admit, it made her excellent at what she did. Invaluable, even, and most didn't suspect a thing when he met with her. After all, wasn't it Kazekage's right to have the finest Suna had to offer, in every way?

'Complacent fools.' The man scoffed. 'As if I let such an important thing as intelligence in the inept hands of the ANBU.'

Oh he had what called itself the Intelligence Department. The problem was it was inherited form his predecessor who might have been a brilliant warrior, but an exceedingly poor politician. The Intelligence, or what passed for it, was rife with people who had far too many connections and who bent to the whims of the more influential Wind politicians a little too readily.

It took years and a truly herculean amount of effort to root out those idiots, and even more sheer will not to kill them where they stood. After all, if he knew who they were, he could lead them around as needed while quietly solidifying his grasp on the important matters. Suna might have fallen on the hard times, but it was no excuse to let some gutless politicians meddle in _his_ affairs. It was his village, and he would control it by any means necessary. Even if he had to suffer annoyingly astute women with far too much wit and eagerness to display it for their own good.

"I must admit, Kazekage-sama," He hated when she used the honorific like that. Somehow, she always made it sound so mockingly courteous and yet not disrespectful at the same time, which made him both amused and irritated. "This is a bold initiative. Indeed, very bold."

He chose not to answer. There was little boldness in it, as far as pragmatism was concerned, though she was right. This would raise some eyebrows, he knew that. Indeed, he was counting on it.

"It is supposed to be." He said calmly. "The question is, can you do it?"

"My most esteemed Kazekage, it is not a question if I can, but if she is able to." Hitomi smiled lightly. "I saw her. Enough of her to know she'd be an... interesting material."

"I don't want to make her into a geisha. She isn't one, nor will she ever be." The Kazekage took a sip of his tea. "That is not the point."

"Oh?" The courtesan raised an eyebrow. "Than what is, if I might ask?"

"Do not play coy with me, Hitomi." The man said blandly. "My patience has its limits."

"I am just trying to understand." She shrugged lightly, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "As you said, she is no geisha, no courtesan. Nor will she ever be. Too much... directness in her, among other things." The kunoichi cocked her head lightly to the side. "What is the point of giving her to me, then? If you require a seductress, there are dozens of women trained to be such in this village. Some of the best mine, and their blood is almost as blue in some cases."

"Don't be ridiculous, Hitomi." The Kage snorted. "A seductress? The boy has women, plenty of them every inch as beautiful as one of your flowers. Ones who are devoted to him enough that they would love to warm his bed at his whim, and that's if you disregard Setsuna." He smiled wryly. "I have no doubt you well know what happened to the last woman who was a bit too pushy in that regard, thanks to that viper."

"It made for an... interesting reading, yes." Hitomi smiled. "I did tell you she's possessive, no?" She frowned slightly. 'Though that was a bit excessive. Which makes me wonder just how much truth is in those rumors...' She thought.

If one thought that relations between those two were simple, he'd be very wrong. There were dozens of trails, pointing into twice as many directions, and all of them feasible in their own way. Even having a far better access to the individuals in question, she was still unsure. A tight bond, yes. But if it was completely as one sided as it appeared...? No. Of that she was sure, if anything. There was far too much intimacy there, far too many hints of something deeper going on. Almost... tailored.

She smiled inwardly. If there was one reason to like Saito Nagi, it was the constant string of puzzling signals, ever growing mountain of mysteries and often times bizarrely conflicting moves the young CEO was making. Find a pattern and the young man would sweep it into oblivion casually as you please a moment later. Needless to say, he was a constant source of amusement for the spymistress.

She was just delighted at the mere thought of the moment the young CEO would move into a little more public spotlight. He had to, of that there was no doubt - the question was when? Either way, the man would make waves around him.

Still, there would be a time for that later.

"So, you want her because she is your daughter." Hitomi nodded thoughtfully. "Trying to make a point?"

"Partially, yes." The man nodded.

"You wouldn't need to give her the additional training then. Unless... you are reaching for something more... substantial." She smiled. "Bold indeed."

"It is meant to be." The Kazekage looked at the kunoichi, his green eyes hard and cold.

"Of course." Hitomi said calmly. "How far would you have this go?"

"As far as it needs to." The Kazekage said coldly. "As far as it can, by any means necessary."

"Ah." The kunoichi nodded slowly. "I see."

"This will be the most important mission of her career." The tone left no room for argument. "Indeed, for the rest of her life."

"I must say it has merit. Beyond the obvious, of course." Hitomi murmured thoughtfully. "So far, the women he surrounds himself with all a posses certain... fire. Something Temari has in abundance."

"I leave the details to you." The Kazekage waved his hand. "Make her ready, Hitomi. A failure is not an option. Not in this case."

"I understand." The kunoichi nodded. "I will do what I can. Time is short, however."

"Then do all you can." The Kage said calmly.

The woman bowed gracefully.

"As you wish." She let the yukata slide off her shoulders even as she let her hair down.

The appearances had to be kept, after all, and shinobi had very sharp senses.

'After all, the best lie isn't the one that just contains the sliver of truth.' She smiled, sliding down on the futon among the whisper of silk. 'It is the one that becomes the truth.'

* * *

Leaving the tower felt... odd. He had traveled before, of course, spending some time on the road before Ginsen became what it was now, but the Tower was his home.

"Home."

Anko slowed down her step so that she walked exactly by him.

"Second thoughts?" She murmured softly, though he could almost feel her smirk.

"Not really." The blond snorted. "But..." He stopped, turning slowly around.

Ginsen Tenshu wasn't exactly big - if he had to guess, it was smaller than Konoha. No matter how thriving the business, the little town took time to grow, though grow it did. He often sat on the top of the Tower, looking down at it, noticing this or that building, sometimes just gazing for the hell of it, but now he felt he really could _see_ it for the first time in his life.

The docks area was nothing out of ordinary - some simple, one-story buildings, solid but unimpressive, the houses beyond - traditional and not poor or rich - just... homes, strewn in a haphazard manner that had none the less managed to look... warm. And in the center of it all, a white solid tower. Not built to impress, but built to last by Suna architects. Not exactly a palace, but still both sturdy and elegant enough to be almost called one. Not quite, but almost.

It stood, in the center of all those houses, streets, inns, and other buildings, but far from a monument, even if Ginsen's silver fan was displayed on it like some mon - a deliberate action on Anko's part, one that used to send local nobles into fits of indignation only to become the city's official symbol barely three years later.

"It is really... big, isn't it?" He said with sudden fascination.

"Not all that big, really." Anko shrugged. "The daimyo have more opulent residences usually, but... yeah." She grinned. "For something functional that isn't supposed to just look cool, its rather large."

"I never looked at it this way." Naruto cocked his head, turning slowly to capture as much of the city as he could with his eyes. "It... damn, it really stands in the center, huh?"

"Yeah." The kunoichi chuckled. "Funny thing about that, really. The build permits are given like that, you know. Evenly to the each side, so that the Tower is always in the center even when new stuff is built"

The blond frowned, before looking at his bodyguard.

"You mean to tell me somebody is _forcing_ this?!" He hissed.

"Wha? No, no!" She waved her hand. "People ask for that. Say it should be built like that, hell if I know why."

"Pride, Setsuna-sama." Taki, as always almost soundless, almost made Naruto jump out of his skin, and it was far from the first time she had done that. "Those people... they have pride in this place."

"More like pride in the money they can make here." The purple haired kunoichi snorted.

"Of course." The majordomo smiled. "However, this place..." She tapped her cheek, before looking at Naruto. "Nagi-sama? If I might be so forward...?"

Naruto blinked, but nodded slowly.

"Please, my lord." She stood next to him, gently touching his arm - something the almost overly polite kunoichi never did. "Look at them. What do you see?"

The blond frowned, eying the large crowd of people passing by the streets. Ginsen Tenshu was a crowded city, partially because of the trade route Naruto forced through here, and partially because of the curious people who wanted to try their luck, or were just passing through on the safest route to Suna that went through River. Anko beat into his head the importance of safe roads very early on and Naruto spent a small fortune making sure they were as safe as he could afford them to be.

"A lot of people on a crowded road?" He shrugged.

"Indeed, my lord. However, look at them." Her hand swept discreetly. "That man."

She pointed out a burly, gray haired man in leathers talking to a similarly clad, if much younger and less bulky copy of himself, while several other young people, including a girl that couldn't be older than fourteen but had arms that put some men to shame seemed to be busy around the cart.

"A blacksmith from Wind, and his apprentices. I've seen that man four years ago when he came here with nothing but clothes on his back and a small daughter in tow, desperate for work. Look at his apprentices now, do they not crowd his store? That woman."

She pointed a young, pretty if not exactly eye-catching woman in her late twenties.

"A refugee from Kiri, whose only reason for almost being slaughtered by her own neighbors was the fact she had a bloodlimit in her family. Her husband - a stone mason from Cloud, who hate Kiri with passion. And yet they had a child not three years ago, a beautiful baby girl with her mother's bloodlimit and her father's eyes. This woman, a seamstress from one of the poorer isles to the east, that man a herbalist from Grass, that couple, an innkeeper and his wife who came far form the north who serve cuisine one would not find for a thousand miles around."

Taki smiled softly.

"Cultures, looks, even clothes - they all differ, but they all live here, they all came here for a new start that Ginsen Tenshu can give them."

"Sorta like you, huh?" Naruto chuckled, only to meet clear, focused eyes of his majordomo.

"Yes, Nagi-sama. Exactly like us." She said calmly.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"...oh." He said weakly.

"Exiles, youngsters, adventurers, thrill-seekers, refugees and dreamers." Anko smirked. "Man, what a motley crew..."

"Indeed, Setsuna-sama." Taki said pleasantly. "But they are our motley crew, are they not?"

The purple haired kunoichi quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"All... that..." The women turned to Naruto, who stood, staring at the small town as if he was spellbound by it. "All that... crowd. They are... people, right? People... a lot of people. All of them, here, all those lives... all those families and even you..." The blond trailed off, looking away. "They are... heavy."

Taki blinked, before bowing. "Forgive me, Nagi-sama." She said with shame. "I was out of line, I should not-"

"No!" He grabbed the kunoichi before she could bow again. "Don't! It is okay." The woman stopped, a confused look on her face.

"Nagi-sama...?"

"It is... heavy." The blond said slowly. "It is _damn_ heavy but... it is ours, right?" He smiled, looking at the city wistfully. "This place is heavy but... it is a good kind of heavy. All those lives, all those people... I won't stop." The blue eyes steeled. "I won't stop, I will keep on going and make sure all of that," He swept his hand over the town, "never falls down, no matter what! If I have to do it with my bare hands, I will crush any obstacle to _dust_, so that this all can stand and grow. _All_ of it." He looked at Taki seriously.

The two kunoichi stood still, and for once Taki had no serene wisdom to share, and Anko had no sarcastic comment to add.

If anything, the purple haired kunoichi felt lighter, even as something in her chest... twisted, for a fleeting moment, leaving both pride and something bitter sweet that she tried to squash but somehow couldn't bring herself to, so she just settled for looking away.

Taki, for once in her life, had no such problems, instead offering a strangely shaky smile to her master.

"Yes, Nagi-sama." she whispered, not fully trusting her voice.

* * *

Temari sat in seiza by the low table, her back straight, her posture rigid and almost motionless. Calm and smooth, if stiff, her face held nothing.

Underneath it all, it was a whole another story and she had to all but bite her lip to stop her hands from touching the fan that wasn't there. Such a stupid, childish thing, treating the her dai tessen as some sort of security blanket, but she couldn't help it.

In contrast, Hitomi, who sipped her tea in silence was relaxed, lazy and almost flowing despite not moving much, though it might have been the kimono and her free flowing, raven tresses that spilled down, for once not held in any elaborate fashion or bound in a braid.

Temari knew who the courtesan was, both officially and 'unofficially' and she had her suspicions as to what was not said or even speculated about. She was her father's daughter, after all.

Which is why her posture was so rigid, and her hands itched for comforting steel of her war fan. She knew what Hitomi did. She also knew what she taught others to do.

Temari's fists clenched a little before she forced them to relax in an almost inhuman display of will.

Growing up like she did, in the household of her power hungry father and jinchuuriki psychotic of a brother - even if he could hardly be called that - left Temari a strong woman fearing very few things the world could throw at her. Hotomi, however, Temari was afraid of.

It wasn't a particularly rational fear, either. A daughter of the Kazekage and the descendant of the Wind nobility from both the sides of her family, she was far too valuable of a card to be sacrificed out of hand. One day she would be - of that she was sure.

To seal one important agreement or other, her father wouldn't hesitate to give her off to a complete stranger, she knew that well. She was even prepared for it - for a woman in her position marriage was a thing of pure convenience and love was never a factor. Thinking otherwise was foolish, and Temari was no fool.

Besides, love? An idiotic notion. She was Sabaku no Temari, and no matter how good of a catch she might have been, men would sooner eat glass than date her. If her bastard of a father wasn't enough of a repellent, Gaara most certainly was.

She accepted that. Not like her father would allow any such foolishness anyway. And despite those calm assurances and logical conclusions, that old apprehension still lingered.

Contrary to one might think, she didn't despise, or pity the kunoichi who performed the 'valentine' missions. She was pragmatic, a pragmatism born of Suna's hard situation and even harsher desert, and she was aware how important it was to use every weapon one had. Besides, it was an age-old method, and no matter what some said, all villages used it simply because it worked.

Many a skirmish or volatile situation was averted or nipped in a bud simply because the right kunoichi was in the right bed to hear what needed to be heard or work her softer charms on the right man in a position of power. Hell, the current Forest Country daimyo was a prime example, even though not many even suspected.

Though the man turned the tables on said kunoichi and simply married her without batting an eye. If it was to keep the whole affair quiet out of shame that a minor shinobi Clan successfully pulled such a stunt, or simply because he reached some agreement, no one really knew. Though the fact the marriage held for twenty years meant that whatever it was, it held fast.

Temari met Chihiro during a diplomatic visit, and if she didn't know any better, she'd call the woman a perfect example of a cultured, elegant and still very beautiful noblewoman, entering her middle age with grace and elegance.

If not for Hitomi, smiling and relaxed as she offhandedly pointed out some details, Temari would never even notice that the middle aged woman was still a very dangerous, perfectly combat-capable kunoichi. Considering she managed to fool even Suna ANBU during their visit told volumes of her still sharp skill, and even more of Hitomi herself.

"Relax, Temari-chan." The courtesan smiled slightly. "Do you know why am I here?"

Temari shook her head once.

She never did. The older kunoichi came and went at her whim or Kazekage's call, and rarely - if ever - explained anything to anybody save him. The older woman poured herself some tea. She didn't offer any to Temari, which the blonde found rather strange. While fond of mind games, the courtesan was unfailingly polite, in that half-amused way of hers.

"Ah." The courtesan sighed. "Predictable. The overt secrecy where it isn't needed, and the lack of it where it truly matters... truly, predictable and very Suna, hmm?" She tssked, before reaching into her sleeve and withdrawing a thin, nondescript storage scroll. She put it in the middle of the table, right in front of Temari.

"This," She pointed to the scroll. "is the single most complete set of data gathered about a certain individual, for the past four years. A set of very nice, very comprehensive data gathered by our agents, even though necessarily limited given the situation. Now..." Hitomi leaned forward, "what does that tell you?"

The blonde frowned, for a second, mulling it over, before rising an eyebrow.

"That we have a complete intelligence report about Saito Nagi?" Temari deadpanned.

"Very good!" Hitomi smiled, clapping. "Congratulations, my girl! Very astute!" The clapping stopped, as if cut. "If rather wrong."

The blonde blinked, somewhat confused. She was sure the answer was correct - the timeline given couldn't allude to anything else, nor the lengths their spies went to gather such data. Only few people rated such an attention, and only one had it on him for the last four years.

"My dear, both you and I are here because this nice bit of intelligence work," She nodded towards the scroll. "is barely worth the paper it is written on, for the most part."

Temari frowned.

"Is it inaccurate?"

"Oh, no, we have plenty of accurate data." Hitomi tapped the maple table. "Actions taken, actions not taken, 'how', if not enough 'why', likes, dislikes, the day schedule..." She tapped her cheek. "The problem is, that when all is said and done, the most if it is garbage."

"I am not sure I follow." Temari said in a puzzled tone.

"Do you know how many intelligence profiles of Saito Nagi had been made in Suna?" Hitomi took a sip of tea.

The blonde shook her head.

"Nine." The older kunoichi said pleasantly. "So far, none of them proved to be fully accurate."

Temari's eyes widened.

"But... that's absurd!" She protested. Even with incomplete data, the profiles were usually fairly solid and reliable, given how through the Intelligence Department was, even when they were concerning ninja. To have one, admittedly bright, businessman confound the shinobi specialists... it just didn't happen.

"Exactly." Hitomi smiled cheerfully. "And that, among other things, is a reason why you are here." The older kunoichi leaned on her elbow, looking at Temari. "This man, this one, single man and his corporation are invaluable to Suna, Temari-chan, and I don not use such words lightly. His money, his goods and services, all of it, are needed. While we can survive without them, given the current situation we can't _grow_." Hitomi tapped the maple leaf table, a sharp staccato as her nials danced on the wood. "But that's not all. Ginsen became a symbol, my dear girl. For most, it is just a symbol of success, and not a particularly visible one, but for us..." Hitomi smiled, shaking her head. "Have you been to Ijiru province, Temari-chan?"

"Not since I was seven, Hitomi-san." Teamri shook her head.

"I have." Hotomi poured herself some more tea. "Saito's absurd route through the mountains and his equally absurd refusal to back down are a stuff of legends there, Temari-chan. It grew to such proportions that I've heard that there are songs written about it. Our dear Nagi-kun is a local hero, Temari-chan. They even set a yearly festival, from what I hear. The first one is going to be celebrated this season, if I am not mistaken."

"Really?" The blonde frowned slightly. "Though he did save them from that famine, so it isn't so far fetched..."

"Indeed." Hitomi swirled the tea in her bowl gently. "So as you see, Saito Nagi is a very important person, an invaluable existence to us. No matter what, that man must not, under _any_ circumstances, fall."

Temari nodded.

She understood it, quite well at that. You didn't spend your childhood and teenage years as Kazekage's daughter without learning the ropes and the gambits of the political play.

She also had a sneaking suspicion where this was all going.

"Why me?" She asked after a long moment of silence.

"For many reasons." Hitomi shrugged. "You are strong, capable and bright - if not for the current policy you'd have earned your chuunin vest two years ago, and would be on the fast track to jounin by now. You are a young and quite attractive woman with good head on her shoulders."

"Please, Hitomi-san." Temari snorted. "There are dozens of girls and women who fit that descriptions, and some are real beauties."

"None of them is the Kazekage's only daughter, though." The courtesan said calmly.

"Ah." Temari nodded slowly. "So that's how it is."

"Indeed." Hotomi nodded. "Don't misunderstand - after I gave it some long, careful thought, I decided that you are indeed perfect for it, for many reasons. While beauty is all nice and fine, Nagi had shown a preference for strong women who posses a certain fire and some wild streak." She smiled with amusement. "But then you only need to look at Setsuna or those cute amazons following him like well trained attack dogs to see it." The courtesan sighed. "However, aside from that, your father wants to make a... statement, of sorts. Drive the point home, so to speak, but without being overt about it." She shook her head. "Well, not more over than he already is, anyway."

Temari's eyes widened.

"You're joking." She said.

"Not in the least." The kunoichi said pleasantly. "After your training is complete, you will become a personal, close link between Suna and Ginsen, our proof of friendship and hope for continued, mutually beneficial relationship as well as a nod and a veiled warning towards others." There was no need to say who those 'others' where, considering Suna's situation. "A gift of good will, so to speak. You will be his shield when needed, a sword when required and a sheath when necessary." A faint smile appeared on the courtesan's face. "Which might be far less of a chore than you think, my dear, given that you are both young and attractive people. Trust me on that."

"Oh bloody hell...!" Teamri rubbed her forehead. "You might lose the flimsy political cloak and dagger shit and as well marry me off to the guy - there'd be no goddamn difference!"

"We would have." Hitomi was non-plussed. "If not for the fact that Nagi rejects any and all marriage offers out of hand, which would be rather awkward, no?" She tapped her cheek lightly. "Besides, I doubt it would work anyway."

Temari raised an eyebrow.

"It is just a speculation but..." The courtesan shrugged. "I do believe that there is more truth to those rumors of Nagi and Setsuna being married than most think. It would make a lot of sense, given some..." She trailed off. "Well, that's neither here nor now."

"I think I have a right to know things about a guy I will be attached to for the rest of my life." The blonde grumbled.

"You would and you will." Hitomi smiled. "The time and season for all things, Temari-chan. The time and season for all things."

"What about... about my team?" Temari asked hesitantly.

Sure, Gaara was both scary and fairly creepy and Kankuro was dumb and crass but... they were still people she worked with, if not all that much of a family.

"It will all be taken care of by your father. Any previous considerations you had cease to matter, Temari-chan." The courtesan shook her head. "Any life you had here in Suna is over. From now on, Nagi is your only future."

"I understand." The blonde nodded.

"No, you don't." Hitomi said calmly "But you will."

Temari couldn't help but fidget slightly as the small, chilly smile appeared on the courtesan's lips, accompanied by the velvety, smooth tone.

"Indeed, I guarantee that you will."

* * *

TBC...

* * *


End file.
